The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

Clashes between Druze fighters and pro-government forces in Syria have intensified into a violent urban assault, leaving scores dead, in some of the worst fighting involving the religious minority. Backed by tribal militias and extremist factions,

Secretary of State Rubio says the U.S. is "very concerned" by expanding Israeli strikes targeting Syria's new government, and he wants "the fighting to stop."

Syria's defense minister has announced a ceasefire just hours after government forces entered a key city in the volatile Sweida province.

President Trump signed an executive order terminating the majority of U.S. sanctions on Syria. The move, which would have been unthinkable mere months ago, fulfilled a promise he made at an investment forum in Riyadh in May.

The country is experiencing its worst drought in decades, which has set the conditions for the blazes to scorch an area the size of Washington, D.C.