SWEIDA (Reuters) -A leading Druze spiritual leader accused the Syrian leadership in Damascus of bombarding the southern city of Sweida despite having reached an agreement to quell violence, and he called on fighters to confront Syrian troops entering the city.

Syria’s foreign ministry says a number of soldiers and civilians have been killed by coordinated Israeli drone attacks and airstrikes near the two countries’ border.

Druse militiamen have been fighting with Bedouins in the Sweida Province, and Syrian government forces and the Israeli military are getting involved.

Washington and Jerusalem have kept a watchful eye on Damascus ever since the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime by Sunni Muslim rebels in December. Of greatest concern has been the level of solidarity the new Syrian government maintains with ISIS — the terrorist organization that Syrian interim president

In a dramatic escalation, Israeli warplanes launched a wave of airstrikes on southern Syria, targeting tanks, convoys, and rocket launchers in the governorates of Suwayda and Daraa. The strikes followed deadly sectarian clashes in Suwayda that killed over 30 people and injured nearly 100,

Syria's defence minister announced a ceasefire shortly after government forces entered a key city in Sweida province on Tuesday.

The UK is to start processing Syrian asylum claims again, more than seven months after decisions were paused following the fall of the Assad regime. Asylum minister Dame Angela Eagle said the Home Office had "worked to lift the pause as soon as there was sufficient information to make accurate and well-evidenced determinations".

Syrian army begins withdrawing heavy military equipment from Suwayda to hand over city’s neighborhoods to internal security forces - Anadolu Ajansı