At least nine people have been killed in a suburb of the Syrian capital after clashes broke out between government forces and local Druze gunmen, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The fighting in Damascus' suburb of Jaramana is the latest episode of violence in Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December.
It was sparked after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man attacking Prophet Muhammad. It was attributed to Marwan Kiwan, a Druze cleric, who later denied being involved.
The clip angered many Sunni Muslims and led to the fighting in the predominantly Druze Jaramana.
"I categorically deny that the audio was made by me,” Kiwan said in a video he posted online. “I did not say that and whoever made it is an evil man who wants to incite strife between parts of the Syrian people.”
The Interior Ministry said in a statement it was investigating the audio clip, adding that its initial probe showed the cleric was not responsible. The ministry urged people to abide by the law and refrain from actions that undermine security.
A ministry spokesperson, Mustafa al-Abdo, said two members of Syria's General Security Service were among the dead, adding that security forces went to break up the clashes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six Druze fighters from Jaramana and three "attackers" were also killed.
The Druze is a minority group that began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam.
Over half of the roughly one million Druze worldwide live in Syria. Most of the other Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war and officially annexed in 1981.
The worst internal clashes in Syria since al-Assad's fall occurred last month in the country's coastal region and involved members of the minority Alawite ethnic group that the former president belonged to.
The clashes between al-Assad loyalists and government forces were accompanied by killings that left more than 1,000 people dead, including hundreds of civilians, according to the war monitor Syrian Network for Human Rights.
Tension in Syria remains prevalent, even as the country's new leaders attempt to integrate the fragmented armed groups under one authority.
Some Druze fighters have resisted this, saying Damascus has failed to guarantee their protection from hostile militants, and fears remain among minority groups of being marginalised by the rebels that overthrew al-Assad.
