A war monitor and an activist group say clashes broke out in the Syrian capital between local gunmen belonging to the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters.

A Syrian war monitor said at least two people were killed in fresh sectarian clashes near Damascus on Wednesday. This comes after more than a dozen people were killed on Tuesday in a predominantly Druze town close to the capital in clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammed.