Syrian authorities on Monday evacuated Bedouin families from the Druze-majority city of Sweida, after a ceasefire in the southern province halted a week of sectarian bloodshed that a monitor said killed more than 1,

The evacuees, including women and children, were headed for reception centres in neighbouring Daraa province and to the capital Damascus, in coordination with the Syrian Red Crescent. State news agency Sana said 1,500 people from Bedouin tribes were to be evacuated.

The clashes between militias of the Druze religious minority and the Sunni Muslim clans killed hundreds and threatened to unravel Syria's already fragile postwar transition.