RENEWED clashes broke out overnight between Druze armed groups and members of Bedouin clans in southern Syria on Thursday night and into this morning.

Government forces were preparing to deploy to the area again today after pulling out under a ceasefire agreement that halted several days of violence earlier this week.

The security forces agreed with some of the Druze factions that they would re-enter the area to impose stability and protect state institutions, according to two Syrian officials who spoke to reporters today on condition of anonymity.

Thousands of people remained displaced by the violence and, according to the Britain-based Syrian Network for Human Rights, at least 321 people have been killed in the sectarian violence since Sunday.

Syrian government forces pulled out of the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida on Thursday after days of clashes with militias linked to the Druze religious minority.

Israel launched air strikes on Syrian forces this week, which it claims were in defence of the Druze minority, before most of the fighting was halted by a truce announced on Wednesday.

Under that agreement, Druze factions and clerics would be left to maintain internal security in Sweida, Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Thursday.

But clashes once again flared between the Druze and Bedouin groups in parts of Sweida province overnight and into this morning.

State media reported that Druze militias had carried out revenge attacks against Bedouin communities, leading to a wave of displacement.

The governor of neighbouring Daraa province said in a statement that more than 1,000 families had been displaced to the area from Sweida as a result of “attacks on Bedouin tribes by outlaw groups.”

The UN humanitarian affairs co-ordination office said nearly 2,000 families had been displaced by the fighting as of Thursday.

In Sweida “there are severe disruptions to supply routes, with insecurity and road closures blocking aid deliveries,” Adam Abdelmoula, UN resident and humanitarian affairs co-ordinator in Syria, said today.

The World Health Organisation was able to send trauma care supplies to Daraa province, but Sweida remains inaccessible, he said.

“Once conditions allow, we are planning to send a mission to assess needs and provide critical aid, in full co-ordination with authorities,” Mr Abdelmoula said.

Bedouin groups arrived today from other areas of Syria to join the fight.

On the outskirts of Sweida, groups of them gathered in front of buildings that had been set ablaze. An armed man who gave his name only as Abu Mariam (“father of Mariam”) said he had come from the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor to “support the oppressed.”

“We will not return to our homes until we crush al-Hijri and his ilk,” he said, referring to a prominent Druze leader opposed to the government in Damascus, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri.

“We have nothing to do with civilians and innocent people as long as they stay in their homes.”