The Syrian government deployed its forces in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, in a bid by the Islamist authorities to extend their power to the area controlled by local armed groups.

Clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, just hours after a ceasefire was announced. Local news outlet Sweida24 said the city and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire early on Wednesday,

The death toll in the Sweida province in southern Syria has reached 203 people since the clashes erupted on Sunday between "Druze factions and Bedouin gunmen," according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syria's defense minister has announced a ceasefire just hours after government forces entered a key city in the volatile Sweida province.

At least 203 people have been killed in sectarian fighting involving Sunni tribes, Druze militias and Syrian troops in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida since Sunday, a war monitor said

Damascus has moved in to the city of Sweida after violent clashes between Bedouins, government forces and Druze left around 100 dead. In response, Israel's airforce, acting as the Druze minority's self-proclaimed protectors,

Clashes in Syria between Bedouin tribes, government forces, and the Druze minority have left dozens dead, raising fears of escalating violence.

The mainly Druze residents of the Syrian city of Sweida had hoped the arrival of government forces on Tuesday would spell an end to deadly sectarian clashes with local Bedouin

Syrian government forces were advancing towards the southern city of Sweida on Monday to quell deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, with one Druze armed group saying talks