A fresh wave of deadly sectarian violence has rocked Syria, highlighting the country's fragile security landscape.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said the clashes started after members of a Bedouin tribe in Sweida province set up a checkpoint where they attacked and robbed a Druze man, leading to tit-for-tat attacks and kidnappings between the tribes and Druze armed groups.

Israeli warplanes launched several waves of airstrikes over central Damascus, according to both Israeli and Syrian authorities. One of the primary targets was a military compound that includes the Syrian defence ministry and the general staff headquarters, which Israeli officials said was being used to coordinate government offensives in Sweida.

The statement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio follows after Israel launched powerful airstrikes in the heart of Damascus, claiming it was defending the minority Druze community. View on euronews

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.

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Syrian government officials and leaders in the Druze religious minority announced a renewed ceasefire Wednesday after days of clashes that have threatened to unravel the country’s postwar political transition and drawn military intervention by powerful neighbor Israel.

Syria says its army has begun to withdraw from the mainly Druze city of Sweida - after days of deadly clashes. Also: eight babies have been born in UK using three people's DNA to prevent genetic disease.