Druse militiamen have been fighting with Bedouins in the Sweida Province, and Syrian government forces and the Israeli military are getting involved.

The Syrian government deployed its forces in the Druze-majority city of Sweida, in a bid by the Islamist authorities to extend their power to the area controlled by local armed groups.

Loud gunfire and smoke were seen and heard over Sweida in southern Syria on Tuesday, after the defence minister announced a ceasefire following the entry of government forces into a key city in the province.

State-run al-Ikhbariya TV reported that tanks and armoured vehicles were withdrawn from residential areas in an apparent effort to de-escalate.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei expressed concern over clashes in Syria and strongly criticized the U.N. Security Council's inaction in the face of the Israeli regime's aggression on Syria,

Syrian forces had deployed in the southern city of Sweida, despite Israeli warnings, trying to contain clashes between members of the Druze minority and Bedouin.

Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city on Tuesday following two days of clashes, the first time government forces have deployed to Sweida since the new government took power.

Soldiers in Syria's armed forces walk through the southern city of Sweida where the defence ministry said they had been deployed to quell deadly sectarian clashes.