The sectarian-tinged violence was directed at a suburb of the Syrian capital with a large population from the Druse minority. Local Druse leaders said they held the government responsible.

Gunfire erupted between the minority Druze sect and pro-government fighters on Tuesday. Fighting broke out after an audio clip circulated of a man criticizing Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

More than a dozen people were killed in a predominantly Druze town near the Syrian capital on Tuesday in clashes sparked by a purported recording of a Druze man cursing the Prophet Mohammad which angered Sunni gunmen,