Inside the centre of Sweida city, there were continuing fierce battles for most of the day, between Druze militia led by cleric Hikmat al Hajiri and the Arab fighters supporting their Bedouin brethren.

Syrian interior ministry forces began deploying in Sweida on Saturday under a US-brokered deal intended to avert further Israeli military intervention in the Druze-majority province.Israel had bombed defence ministry forces in both Sweida and Damascus earlier this week to force their withdrawal after they were accused of summary executions and other abuses against Druze civilians during their brief deployment in the southern province.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said tribal fighters withdrew from Sweida after a major Druze offensive.

Syria’s president declared a ceasefire after nearly a week of sectarian bloodshed in the south, but civilians said there was no let-up in the violence.

Damascus believed it had tacit approval to restore control in Sweida; Israeli airstrikes followed reports of troop abuses, as U.S. mediation helped broker a limited ceasefire.

A ceasefire was enforced in Sweida, Syria, where clashes between Druze community members and Bedouin tribes had persisted for nearly a week. Syrian security forces intervened, leading to the halt of hostilities and clearing the area of tribal fighters.

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,

Members of Syrian minority communities gather in French, UK capitals to demand international intervention to stop bloodshed; 'It's like ethnic cleansing,' says one protester