Government forces and allied militias began withdrawing from the mostly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on Thursday. It comes after Israeli strikes to defend the sect and US demands on Damascus to pull out.

Withdrawal follows announcement of truce, which a Druze spiritual leader says includes 'full integration of the province' into Syrian state, though other community leaders reject it

In Syria's Druze-majority city of Sweida, residents said they have been living in terror since the arrival of government forces who have been carrying out what witnesses and a war monitor have called summary executions.