One killed as armed groups attack Syria's security forces in Sweida
The source said the armed groups violated the ceasefire deal made in the predominantly Druze region last month after sectarian clashes killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians.
Clashes erupted in early July between Bedouin and Druze factions, after the kidnapping of a Druze trader on a government-controlled road to the north of the city, and escalated into widespread violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed.
Syrian government forces were sent to contain the unrest but Druze militias, who deeply distrust the newly established authorities in Damascus and accuse of siding with the Bedouin, mobilised to push them back.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam, with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have been scarred by long-standing tension over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. The government in Damascus said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee for that purpose.
The Sweida bloodshed last month was a major test for interim President Ahmed Al Shara, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.
Israel in July attacked the main Syrian military compounds in the heart of Damascus, in a widening aerial campaign in response to the offensive on Sweida. Israel said it was acting to defend the Druze minority.
Also on Sunday, the Israeli military announced it conducted a raid on targets in southern Syria the previous day, in which it seized weapons and questioned several suspects it said were involved in trafficking weapons in the area.
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