The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said the death toll from violence in the country’s south had topped 1,000. The war monitor said those killed since last Sunday included 336 Druze fighters and 298 civilians from the religious minority group, 194 of whom were “summarily executed by defense and interior ministry personnel.”

Armed Bedouin clans in Syria have withdrawn from the southern city of Sweida after over a week of deadly clashes.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -One elderly man had been shot in the head in his living room. Another in his bedroom. The body of a woman lay in the street. After days of bloodshed in Syria's Druze city of Sweida,

Sweida, a Syrian city, experiences a 'tense calm' after a temporary withdrawal of Bedouin fighters. Despite the ceasefire, residents face ongoing struggles with shortages of water and electricity. Previous clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters resulted in casualties,

It seems that there is now concern in Washington that Damascus is not able to hold things together. Israel has played a complex role in this.

Syria's Islamist-led government said its security forces were deploying in the predominantly Druze southern city of Sweida on Saturday and urged all parties to respect a ceasefire after days of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed.

One woman tells the BBC she cowered in her home waiting for gunmen to enter and "decide whether we should live or die".