At least four killed as armed groups attack Syria's security troops in Sweida

Violence erupted in early July between tribal fighters and Druze factions

A burnt-out military vehicle after deadly clashes between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government troops, in Sweida, Syria, last month. Reuters

Armed groups attacked Syria's internal security troops in the southern city of Sweida on Sunday, killing at least four people and injuring others, local media and war monitor reported.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that three Syrian security forces personnel were killed "as clashes erupted with local factions around Tal Hadid in the western Sweida countryside".

The Observatory also reported the death of a "local fighter".

A source told Syria's state-run Al Ekhbariya TV that the armed groups breached the ceasefire deal made in the predominantly Druze region last month after sectarian clashes killed hundreds of people, many of them civilians.

Tal Hadid is a “key control point” at a relatively high altitude, according to the monitor, allowing whoever controls it to overlook neighbouring areas.

Fighting also erupted around the city of Thaala, the monitor said, “following bombardment of the area with shells and heavy weapons launched from areas under the control of government forces, while the sound of explosions and gunfire was heard in various parts of Sweida city”.

According to the monitor and Sweida locals, Damascus has been imposing a siege on the province, with the Observatory saying the government wants to “force inhabitants to comply”.

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 troops 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 army 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.