Here’s what triggered the latest deadly sectarian clashes in Syria, and why it matters

BEIRUT AP Clashes between Bedouin tribes executive forces and members of a minority sect in Syria have left dozens dead and once again raised fears of a breakdown in the country s fragile postwar order The country is deeply divided as it tries to emerge from decades of dictatorship and nearly years of civil war Clashes have on several occasions broken out between forces loyal to the leadership and Druze fighters since the fall of President Bashar Assad in early December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Sunni Islamist insurgent groups but Monday s fighting threatened to escalate into a larger conflict Here are the main reasons the clashes expanded in modern days and background on the two sides The Druze and Syria s new ruling body The Druze religious sec t is a minority group that began as a th-century offshoot of Ismailism a branch of Shiite Islam More than half the roughly million Druze worldwide live in Syria The bulk of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel including in the Golan Heights which Israel captured from Syria in the Mideast War and annexed in In Syria they largely live in the southern Sweida province and selected suburbs of Damascus mainly in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya to the south The transitional leadership has promised to include minorities including the Druze but the new -member governing body in Syria reported in late March only has one Druze member Minister of Agriculture Amjad Badr Under the Assad family s tight rule religious freedom was guaranteed as the country then boasted about its secular and Arab nationalist system The Druze have been divided over how to deal with their issues with the new status quo in the country Countless Druze endorsement a dialogue with the executive while others want a more confrontational approach What lies behind the tension between the two sides Syria s religious and ethnic communities are worried about their place in Syria s new system that is mostly run by Islamists including chosen who have links to extremist groups The country s new President Ahmad al-Sharaa himself is a former militant who once was a member of al-Qaida Although al-Sharaa had revealed that the right of ethnic and religious minorities will be protected there have been several rounds of sectarian killings since Assad s fall The Assad family rule that was dominated by members of the Alawite sect had oppressed much of the country s Sunni majority while giving minorities particular powers During Syria s -year conflict the Druze had their own militias in part to defend against Muslim fundamentalist militants who consider them heretics Members of the Islamic State group in attacked the Druze in Sweida province killing more than people and taking more than two dozen hostage Clashes began after checkpoint robbery The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights a U K -based war monitor announced 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 Establishment safety forces deployed to the area to restore order but were seen as taking the side of the Bedouin tribes against Druze factions Israel which has periodically intervened or threatened to intervene in backing of the Druze in Syria reported it struck military tanks in southern Syria Monday In Israel the Druze are seen as a loyal minority and often serve in the military Israel does not want Islamist militants near the country s northern dividing line Since Assad s fall Israeli forces have seized control of a U N patrolled buffer zone in Syria near the territory line with the Israeli-annexed Golan and have carried out hundreds of airstrikes on military sites While numerous Druze in Syria have mentioned they do not want Israel to intervene on their behalf factions from the Druze minority have also been suspicious of the new government in Damascus Concerns that sectarian violence could rise The clashes raise fears of another spiral of sectarian violence In March an ambush on ruling body assurance forces by fighters loyal to Assad triggered days of sectarian and revenge attacks Hundreds of civilians were killed preponderance of them members of the minority Alawite sect that Assad belongs to A commission was formed to investigate the attacks but has not made its findings populace There have also been rising tensions between functionaries in Damascus and Kurdish-led officers controlling the country s northeast Despite having reached an agreement in March to merge their forces the two sides have since come to an impasse and the deal has not been implemented The ongoing instability threatens to derail Syria s fragile recovery after more than a decade of war that devastated its infrastructure and displaced half the prewar population of million In the United Nations estimated that rebuilding Syria would cost about billion Since Assad was overthrown specific experts say that number could be as high as billion Source