Clashes flared up again Friday between Druze militiamen and Sunni Bedouin tribes around Sweida in southern Syria. Footage from the Al-Arabiya network showed fires burning on the roadside and a heavy presence of Syrian security forces and other armed men.

Attacks against Druze civilians, allegedly carried out by members of government forces, have multiplied in recent days in the city of Sweida and its surrounding areas, which remain cut off from the outside world.