Syria said Wednesday that a new cease-fire had been reached in Suwayda, a day after a previous truce collapsed following days of violence that killed more than 300 people, according to a monitoring group.
"An agreement was reached for a cease-fire in Suwayda and the deployment of security checkpoints in the city," an unidentified interior ministry source said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
Syrian government troops were dispatched to the Suwayda region Monday to quell fighting between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, but were attacked by the Druze militias.
Local news outlet Suwayda24 said the city of Suwayda and nearby villages were coming under heavy artillery and mortar fire early on Wednesday.
Syria's Defense Ministry, in a statement carried by state news agency SANA, blamed outlawed groups in Suwayda for breaching the truce.
It was not immediately clear if the new agreement, which was announced by Syrian state media and in a video message by a Druze religious leader, would hold. A previous cease-fire announced the day before quickly fell apart.
The escalating violence has appeared to be the most serious threat yet to the ability of Syria's new rulers to consolidate control of the country after an anti-regime-led offensive ousted longtime dictator Bashar Assad in December, bringing an end to a nearly 14-year civil war.
As clashes have raged for days in the southern Syrian city of Suwayda between government forces and Druze armed groups, Israel has launched dozens of strikes targeting government troops and convoys, and on Wednesday struck the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in the heart of Damascus.
That strike killed one person and injured 18, Syrian officials said. Another strike hit near the presidential palace in the hills outside of Damascus.
