Damascus, Syria - War Guardians and a militant group said a war guardian and a militant group said there was a clash in the suburbs of the Syrian capital between local gunmen belonging to ethnic Druze sects and pro-government combatants, with at least four people dead.

Fighting broke out in the southern suburbs of Damascus after audio clips from a man attacking the Islamic prophet Muhammad were circulated on social media. The audio was attributed to Rev. Druze, who later denied being involved.

Druze pastor Marwan Kiwan said in a video posted on social media that he was not responsible for the audio, which angered many Sunni Muslims and led to a fight in the Druze community in Jaramana.

"I explicitly deny that the audio was made by me," Kiwang said in the video. "I didn't say that, no matter who is an evil person, he wants to clash between the components of the Syrian people."

The Home Office said in a statement that it was investigating the audio clip, adding that its initial investigation showed that the pastor was not responsible. The ministry urges people to abide by the law and not act in ways that undermine security.

The UK-based Syrian Human Rights Observatory said at least four people were killed in the conflict, while activist media collective Suwayda 24 said five people were killed and 12 were injured.

Syrian Druze gunmen clashed with Jaramana's government security forces in recent weeks.

On March 1, the Israeli Ministry of Defense said the military was directed to prepare to defend Jaramana and asserted that the minority it vowed to protect was "under attack" by Syrian forces.

The Druze religious sect is a minority group, originally a branch of Ismailism in the 10th century, a branch of Shia Islam. In Syria, there are more than half of the 1 million druzes worldwide. Most of Druze live in Lebanon and Israel, including in the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied from Syria during the Middle East War in 1967 and annexed in 1981.

Syria's worst internal conflict has occurred in the country's coastal areas since the collapse of President Bashar Assad in early December, involving a few members of the Alawi sect belonging to the former president.

According to the War Guardian, the conflict between Assad loyalists and government forces was accompanied by a revenge killing that killed more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of civilians. The Associated Press cannot independently verify these numbers.