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

The Islamist-led government said Bedouin fighters left the predominantly Druze city and the U.S. stepped up calls for an end to days of fighting.

Syrian government troops have cleared Bedouin fighters from the city of Sweida and declared an end to deadly clashes that killed at least 260 people over the past week.

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.

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,

Recent clashes in Sweida between armed Druze and Bedouin clans resulted in hundreds of deaths and escalated sectarian tensions. A US-brokered ceasefire brought cautious calm. Humanitarian aid is entering the city,

Druze fighters pushed out rival armed factions from Syria's city of Sweida on Saturday, a monitor said, after a US-brokered ceasefire deal with Israel.

Syrian government forces had largely pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority that threatened to unravel the country’s fragile post-war transition.

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.