Violent clashes erupted in southern Syria's Druze-majority Sweida on Tuesday as government forces entered the city, an AFP correspondent at an entrance to the southern city reported.
A statement from Druze religious authorities had called for local fighters to lay down their arms. But influential Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, who had initially welcomed the entry of government forces, later called in a statement for "resisting this brutal campaign by all available means".
Syria's interior ministry earlier said the government forces' aim was to bring an end to deadly clashes between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, and that they were to impose a curfew on the city that has suffered two days of fighting during which roughly 100 people in the region have been killed.
'Sweida has been a real focal point of violence'
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"The forces of the interior and defence ministries will begin to enter the centre of Sweida city," the head of interior security in Sweida province, General Ahmad Dalati, said in a statement.
Government forces intervened in the fighting, saying they aimed to separate the warring parties, but have ended up in control of several Druze areas around Sweida, an AFP correspondent reported.
The reporter saw columns of Syrian military heading for the city on Tuesday morning, as well as heavy artillery surrounding it.
Israel, which portrays itself as a defender of the Druze and has previously intervened in Syria, launched strikes against government forces on Monday.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said the strikes were a "clear warning to the Syrian regime".
The violence began on Sunday when Bedouin gunmen abducted a Druze vegetable vendor on the highway to Damascus, prompting retaliatory kidnappings.
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(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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