Syrian opposition blocks highway from Jordan after border reopening announcement

AMMAN — Armed Syrian opposition groups on Thursday blocked the Damascus-Amman international highway in Daraa, southern Syria, 10km off the Jaber Border Crossing with Jordan, one day following the announcement of the full reopening of the crossing and the suspension of prior approval for crossing, Al-Ghad daily reported.اضافة اعلان

The decision to open the crossing included abolishing the back-to-back transportation system for goods and passengers, allowing buses to cross to and back from the Syrian side, allowing people of different nationalities to leave for Syria without the need for prior approval from the Jordanian side, and allowing cross-border ferrying vehicles to operate between the two countries at a rate of 100 vehicles per day.

The decision also permitted transit buses travelling from Syria to Saudi Arabia to cross through Jordan, provided they register on the Saudi “Tawakulna” platform, which is the official vaccination platform for Saudi Arabia.

Operations under the new measures were set to come into effect on Sunday, August 1, Minister of Interior Mazen Al-Faraya sain on Wednesday.

Gunmen on Thursday killed eight Syrian regime fighters and captured 15 others during the fiercest clashes in the southern province of Daraa since it came under government control, a war monitor reported, according the Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Russian-backed Syrian army and allied forces recaptured Daraa from rebels in 2018, a symbolic blow to the anti-government uprising born there in 2011.
State institutions have returned, but the army still hasn't deployed across the whole province, and tit-for-tat bombings and assassinations between former opposition figures and regime forces have since become routine, according to AFP. 

Tensions flared on Thursday, leading to what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called the "most violent and broadest clashes in Daraa since it came under regime control."

Fighting started when regime forces fired artillery shells towards the former opposition hub of Daraa Al-Balad in tandem with a ground push, the Britain-based war monitor said.

The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper called it the "start of a military operation against hideouts of terrorists who thwarted a reconciliation deal."
In response to Thursday's shelling, gunmen launched a counterattack across many parts of Daraa's countryside, where they captured several regime positions, AFP added.

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