AMMAN — Syrian elite forces aided by pro-Iranian
militias stepped up an offensive on Tuesday against a rebel enclave in a
southwestern pocket bordering Jordan and Israel, according to residents,
military and opposition sources.
اضافة اعلان
Fighting escalated earlier this week after the collapse of a
Russian peace plan meant to avert an all-out offensive against
Daraa Al-Balad,
the core of the city of Daraa that has defied state authority since surrounding
Daraa province was recaptured by President Bashar Al-Assad's forces in 2018.
Witnesses and military sources that dozens of improvised
missiles were fired into Daraa Al-Balad by the Syrian military's pro-Iranian
Fourth Division, backed by Iranian-financed local militias.
Army sources said troops that have encircled the urban rebel
bastion for the last two months brought forward reinforcements on Monday ahead
of a final thrust into the center of Daraa.
Daraa Al-Balad was the birthplace of peaceful protests
against autocratic Assad family rule that broke out a decade ago — part of the
pro-democracy Arab Spring uprisings — before spreading in response to deadly
crackdowns by security forces and morphing into a devastating civil war.
The latest army campaign came amid a spate of attacks over
the past 24 hours by remnants of
rebel groups on army checkpoints and outposts
in Dael, Jasem, and other towns across Daraa province, opposition sources and
residents said.
A Western intelligence source said several thousand families
in towns caught in the crossfire had fled to safer areas near the Jordanian
border where the Jordanian army was on alert for a possible new wave of
refugees.
The Syrian army said at least four soldiers were killed in
ambushes on troops in the towns of Sanameen and Nawa, and that rebel shelling
had caused several casualties in residential areas.
Government forces, aided by Russian air power and Iranian
militias, retook Daraa province in 2018, and Moscow assured Israel and the
United States at the time that it would prevent Iranian-backed militias
encroaching on the border zone.
That deal forced thousands of Western-backed rebels to hand
over heavy weapons but kept Assad's forces from entering Daraa Al-Balad, whose
administration remained in opposition hands.
Local elders said rebels told Russian mediators they had
rejected an ultimatum delivered overnight by the army to hand over their light
arms and allow troops to set up checkpoints inside Daraa Al-Balad.
Pro-Assad forces have prevented food, medical and fuel
supplies coming into Daraa Al-Balad but opened a corridor for civilians to
leave, according to local officials and residents.
The United States and its allies have voiced concern about
Assad's military campaign in Daraa, which they say is challenging Russia's
pledge to maintain stability and rein in Iran-backed militias hostile to
Israel.
Assad withstood the long insurgency against him and has
regained control of around 70 percent of Syria with Russian and Iranian help.
But Idlib in the far northwest remains under rebel control and patches of the
northeast are in Kurdish hands.
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