About 500 people killed in clashes, according to UK war monitor; AFP photographer counts 15 bodies strewn in city center amid looted shops and burned cars and houses

SANA says women and children among those killed by armed groups following withdrawal of government forces in Sweida

An AFP photographer counted 15 bodies on the street in the centre of Sweida today after government forces pulled out. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said more than 370 people have been killed in sectarian clashes in the city since Sunday.

Army says there were no further crossings overnight, is working to patch up holes in fence; Kurdish official urges Sharaa to rethink approach to minorities

The dayslong fighting has threatened to unravel Syria’s postwar political transition and brought in further military intervention by Israel.

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.

Israeli warplanes pounded Syrian government buildings in Damascus, escalating its campaign against Syria's new authorities amid heavy clashes between government forces and the country's Druze minority.