Government forces that were initially sent to restore order but effectively sided with the Bedouins against the Druze were redeployed to halt renewed fighting that erupted Thursday in the southern province of Sweida. The violence also drew airstrikes against Syrian forces by neighboring Israel before a truce was reached.

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 looted.

Video showed government forces on the streets of a predominantly Druze city and smoke billowing across roads as gunfire sounded.