The first humanitarian aid convoy entered the southern Syrian city of Sweida today, a Red Crescent official says, a week after deadly sectarian violence erupted in the Druze heartland.

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

The Islamist-led government said Bedouin fighters left the predominantly Druze city and the U.S. stepped up calls for an end to days of fighting.

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,

Armed Bedouin clans in Syria have withdrawn from the southern city of Sweida after over a week of deadly clashes.

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,

The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and Sunni Muslim groups killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar 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.