Clashes have erupted again between Druze militias and Bedouin clans in southern Syria. Government forces withdrew from the area earlier this week under a U.S.

Hospital corridors were engulfed by the stench of the dead bodies that had bloated beyond recognition. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Syrian government forces prepared to return to a southern region Friday after renewed clashes broke out between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans, leaving tens of thousands of people displaced in a worsening humanitarian crisis.

The conflict drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze minority before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced Wednesday.

Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority.

Syria's Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.

A ceasefire between Syria and Druze religious minority leaders had halted several days of violence earlier this week

Israel announced that a ceasefire had been reached in the area, and that the Syrian forces were expected to withdraw from areas with Druze populations. Foreign Minister Gidion Sa'ar ordered the urgent transfer of aid to Sweida's Druze population as Syrian security forces prepare to redeploy to the Druze-majority Sweida city to quell fighting by the Druze and Bedouin tribes,

Syria's interior ministry spokesperson said on Friday that government forces were not preparing to deploy to Sweida Province, the state news agency reported.

Nearly 600 killed in sectarian clashes in Syria’s Sweida as troops withdraw under pressure, Israeli strikes and US-led mediation avert wider escalation.