Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence also drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached.

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.

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

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.

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.

DAMASCUS -- Syrian interim authorities' forces on Saturday began deploying across Sweida province to implement the first phase of a ceasefire agreement aimed at halting days of deadly sectarian clashes, a source at the information authorities said.

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Around 940 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in week-long violence in Syria's Druze-majority province of Sweida, a war monitor reported on Saturday, amid renewed sectarian fighting despite a ceasefire announcement.