Members of Syria's Druze community are searching for loved ones and counting their dead after days of clashes in a southern province that left bloodied bodies of civilians on the streets and homes loo

Members of Syria’s Druze community are searching for loved ones and counting their dead after days of clashes in a southern province that left bloodied bodies of civilians on the streets and homes loo

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,

Clashes have erupted again between Druze militias and Bedouin clans in southern Syria. Government forces withdrew from the area earlier this week under a U.S.

The conflict had drawn airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel in defense of the Druze before a truce halted most of the fighting.

Visit BBC for trusted reporting on the latest world and US news, sports, business, climate, innovation, culture and much more.

Syria has been wracked by a new wave of deadly sectarian violence that has placed the spotlight on the Druze minority at the center of rising tensions with Israel. Dozens of people were killed this week after clashes between government loyalists and Druze militias in the southern city of Suwayda,

“In light of the recent attacks targeting the Druze community in Sweida and the severe humanitarian situation in the area, foreign minister Gideon Saar has ordered the urgent transfer of humanitarian aid to the Druze population in the region,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

STORY: Violence in southern Syria has put a spotlight on a small but influential minority, the Druze.:: Who are the Druze?The Druze are Arabs who follow a religion derived from a branch of Islam.They maintain a degree of secrecy about the practice of their faith that emerged in the 11th century.