The Syrian presidency has announced an “immediate ceasefire” in the southern city of Suweida to try to bring an end to a week of sectarian violence that has left hundreds dead.There have been chaotic gun battles on city streets between the local Bedouin tribesmen and the Druze community,

An eruption of violence in Syria this week entangled government forces, Bedouin tribes, the Druze religious minority and neighboring Israel, and highlighted just how combustible the country remains seven months after its longtime authoritarian leader was toppled.

Violence between government forces and armed factions of a religious minority in southern Syria this week has deepened divisions in a country still recuperating from a civil war