The fighting, which started with clashes between Druze and Bedouin militias in the city of Sweida and drew in Sunni tribesmen and Israel, is among the deadliest since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December.

Sectarian-tinged clashes left hundreds dead and attracted Israeli military intervention. A U.S. envoy said Israel and Syria had agreed to a truce.

The Syrian government says the week-long sectarian clashes in the southern region of Sweida have now been halted - after the tribal fighters were made to leave.

Syria’s Minister of Information said Saturday that the first phase of a ceasefire between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze-linked militias in Sweida will be in effect for the next 48 hours.

Syria's Islamist-led government struggled to implement a ceasefire in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida on Saturday, with machinegun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed.

Syrian government forces were struggling to implement a shaky ceasefire in the southern province of Sweida on Saturday after factional bloodshed between Druze militias and Arab Bedouin tribes left hundreds dead, threatening the country’s postwar transition.

Syria's armed Bedouin clans on Sunday announced that they had withdrawn from the southern city of Sweida following over a week of clashes, as per a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Israel intervened in the conflict earlier this week, hitting government forces and the defence ministry building in Damascus as it declared support for the Druze minority.

Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa urged Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes Saturday to “fully commit” to a ceasefire aimed at ending clashes with militias linked to the Druze minority that left hundreds dead and threatened to unravel the country’s post-war transition.

Syrian security forces are beginning to move into the restive province of Suwayda after days of communal fighting in which hundreds of people have been killed,the country’s interior ministry says.