Syrian security forces are overseeing a tense calm in the Syrian town of Jaramana in the Damascus countryside following hours of sectarian clashes overnight that left at least nine dead.

What happened: The violence in the Druze-majority town of Jaramana was instigated by a purported audio recording of a Druze man insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The recording began circulating over the weekend, leading to tension in several Syrian provinces, including Aleppo and Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The local Enab Baladi news outlet said a group of students attacked their Druze classmates at Homs University on Sunday. Authorities said they had contained the situation and arrested those involved.

The tensions then spilled over to the Damascus countryside late on Monday, when armed men from the predominantly Sunni towns of Beit Sahm and al-Maliha went to Jaramana, where clashes lasted for several hours until early Tuesday, according to several local reports. The SOHR said light and medium weapons were used and artillery shells were fired from the nearby al-Naseem neighborhood.