Residents from the Syrian-Druze city of Sweida described friends and neighbors being shot at close range in their homes or on the streets. One elderly man had been shot in the head in his living room.

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.

Syrian government forces largely pulled out of the southern province of Sweida on Thursday after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze minority that threatened to unravel the country's post-war transition and brought in more Israeli airstrikes in defense of the Druze.