ANSD : Regime advances deeper into Deraa

SAT 27 - 4 - 2024

Date: Jun 25, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Regime advances deeper into Deraa

Russia says 70 Syrian rebels killed in fighting in country's south

BEIRUT: Syrian government forces advanced deeper into the southern province of Deraa Sunday under the cover of airstrikes, entering new villages amid reports that the U.S. has told rebels not to expect an American intervention to defend them from the army’s offensive. Syrian government forces have been on the offensive in eastern parts of Deraa province for the past five days in an operation that aims to reach a main border crossing point with Jordan.

The push comes two months after government forces regained control of rebel-held eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus that freed thousands of government soldiers for the new battle in Deraa province.

Opposition activists have been reporting for days that President Bashar Assad’s government has sent some of its elite units to the south including the Republican Guard and the Tiger force that is commanded by Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan, widely known as Nimr, Arabic for tiger.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Deraa-based opposition activist Osama Hourani said that the U.S. has informed rebel groups in southern Syria that Washington will not intervene in the operations to defend them against the government offensive that is ongoing under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

There was no immediate comment from Washington but if true the decision would be a major reversal from earlier pronouncements.

The United States warned last month it would take “firm and appropriate measures” to protect a cease-fire in southern Syria if government forces move against rebels there. The region has also been a source of regional tensions between Iran and Israel in recent months.

“It is clear that since yesterday the Russians and the [Syrian] regime have been given the green light to regain control of Houran,” Hourani said referring to the region that includes Deraa, the nearby region of Qunaitra and parts of Swaida province. “The proof is that after the rebels received the [American] message Russian warplanes joined the battle.”

The United States, Russia, and Jordan agreed last year to include Deraa in a “de-escalation zone” and freeze the lines of conflict there. But the area has been tense following a series of recent Israeli strikes on Syrian and Iranian forces. Iran is a close ally of Assad, and its advisers are embedded with his troops.

Syrian state news agency SANA said Sunday that troops made territorial gains in Al-Lujat and other areas including the village of Jadal on the eastern edge of Deraa province.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said some rebels have voluntarily joined forces with Syrian government forces adding that Syrian troops repelled an attack by Al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Deraa.

State news agency SANA said that rebels shelled the southern government-held city of Swaida wounding three people.

The observatory said government forces reached the rebel-stronghold of Busr al-Harir where fighting is ongoing inside the town.

In an interview aired Sunday, Assad said the Syrian army will regain control of the country’s north by force if rebels refuse to surrender.

Assad was speaking after Damascus said it rejected the presence of Turkish and U.S. forces around the northern town of Manbij, a day after soldiers of the two countries began patrolling the area.

“We will fight them [rebels] and return control by force. It is certainly not the best option for us, but it’s the only way to get control of the country,” Assad said, responding to a question about the northern part of Syria where rebel groups backed by Turkey hold some territory.

Assad said reconstructing Syria after the devastation wrought by the war could cost $400 billion, but said Syria would not accept any Western money to help rebuild the country, shattered after seven years of war.

“We have enough means to restore our country, we are sure about that” and that funds could be sought from the Syrian diaspora.

Separately, Sunday, the Israeli air force fired a Patriot missile at a drone approaching its northern border from Syria, forcing it to turn back.

Russia says 70 Syrian rebels killed in fighting in country's south
_Reuters
MOSCOW: The Syrian army, supported by the Russian Air Force, has repelled a rebel attack in the southern "de-escalation zone," killing around 70 rebels, Russian news agencies cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying Monday.

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