Shops were looted, homes burned and bodies littered the streets of the city. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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

Dozens of Druze crowded the Israeli-controlled side of the armistice line in the occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, hoping to catch a glimpse of relatives on the Syrian-held side who might try to cross the barbed-wire frontier.

Syrian troops pulled out of the Druze heartland province of Sweida Thursday on orders from the Islamist-led government, leaving bodies strewn on the street, AFP journalists reported from the provincia

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the situation as "complicated" but said it looked like a "misunderstanding".

Residents emerged from their homes to scenes of devastation on Thursday after government forces withdrew from the Syrian Druze-majority city of Sweida, leaving behind looted shops, burned homes and bodies littering the streets after days of violence.

SANA says women and children among those killed by armed groups following withdrawal of government forces in Sweida

The strike comes in response to intensifying violence in Sweida province, home to Syria’s Druze minority, where sectarian clashes between Druze groups and Bedouin tribes have spiralled into the deadliest fighting in months, leaving nearly 250 people dead.