Israel bombs tanks in Syria's Suweida province amid fierce Bedouin-Druze clashes

Israel's military said it struck on Monday several tanks in the Suweida province of southern Syria, where dozens have been killed in clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze fighters.

The military struck "several tanks a short while ago in the area of Sami village (in the Suweida region) in southern Syria. To be continued", the military's Arabic language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X.

The announcement comes after reports that six members of Syria's security forces deployed to halt deadly sectarian clashes were killed in the predominantly Druze city of Suweida, a security source told Reuters.

Sunday's fighting between Druze militiamen and Bedouin tribal fighters was the first time that sectarian violence erupted inside the city of Suweida itself, following months of tensions in the province.

The death toll from the ongoing clashes has risen to 89, according to one Syrian monitor but The New Arab could not verify the figure.

The fighting prompted Syria's security forces to deploy units to the provincial capital to restore calm and guarantee safe passage for civilians looking to leave, the defence ministry said in a statement.

But intense clashes broke out again on Monday, local news outlet Sweida24 reported. At least six Syrian troops were subsequently killed, a defence ministry source told Reuters.

It marked the latest episode of sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where fears among minority groups have grown in the months since rebels toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Rebel groups which fought Assad during the war agreed in December to dissolve into the defence ministry but efforts to integrate armed factions from minority groups - including Druze and Kurds - have largely stalled.

In southern Syria, efforts have been further complicated by Israel's stated policy that it would not allow Syria's new army to deploy south of Damascus and that Suweida and neighbouring provinces should make up a demilitarised zone, something that goes against the sovereignty of the Syrian state.

Interior Minister Anas Khattab said in a written statement carried on state media that the "absence of state institutions, especially military and security institutions, is a major cause of the ongoing tensions in Sweida and its countryside".

Sunday's violence erupted after a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction of a Druze merchant on Friday on the highway linking Damascus to Suweida, witnesses said.