Syrian government forces have started withdrawing from the southern province of Sweida following days of vicious clashes with militias from the Druze minority.

Government forces and allied militias began withdrawing from the mostly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on Thursday. It comes after Israeli strikes to defend the sect and US demands on Damascus to pull out.

Syria's Druze have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government in Sweida that will take immediate effect, Druze religious leader Sheikh Yousef Jarbou said in a video broadcast by state media on Wednesday.