REUTERS, Damascus

Residents reported calm in the Syrian city of Sweida yesterday after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city and the United States stepped up calls for an end to fighting.

There was no sound of gunfire yesterday morning, according to a resident speaking from the city outskirts, while a Druze source in the region said there was calm in most areas. Kenan Azzam, a dentist, described the situation on yesterday morning as “a tense calm” but told Reuters residents were still struggling with a lack of water and electricity.

“The hospitals are a disaster and out of service, and there are still so many dead and wounded,” he said by phone.

The fighting began a week ago with clashes between Bedouin and Druze fighters.

Damascus then sent troops to quell the fighting, but they were accused of carrying out widespread violations against the Druze and were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on Wednesday.

A Syria monitor said yesterday that the death toll from violence in south involving Druze fighters and their Bedouin rivals, as well as government forces, armed tribes and Israel, had topped 1,000.