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

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,

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,

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.

A ceasefire went into effect late Wednesday, easing days of brutal clashes in Sweida. Now, members of its Druze community who fled or went into hiding are returning to search for loved ones and count their losses. They are finding homes looted and bloodied bodies of civilians in the streets.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture Syria and promised to protect its Druze minority on Thursday, after U.S. intervention helped end deadly fighting between government forces and Druze fighters in the south.