Sectarian clashes escalated in Syria’spredominantly Druze region of Sweida as the country’s new Islamist regime struggled to implement a ceasefire after days of bloodshed.

Shelling and firing were heard asDruze fighters reportedly pushed out Bedouin gunmen from Sweida city on Saturday.

The regime in Damascus announced that it had deployed forces in the southern region to maintain peace and urged all parties to stop fighting after hundreds of people were killed in nearly a week of clashes.

The interior ministry claimed late on Saturday that clashes had stopped after Sweida was cleared of Bedouin tribal fighters.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in the UK, said clashes since last week around Sweida had killed at least 940 people.