Syrian forces supported by Russian jets enters Deraa, under rebels
Syrian troops fought their way into a rebel-held town in the
southern province of Deraa on Wednesday in an assault which rebels said was
supported by the heaviest Russian aerial bombing campaign so far in the south.
Troops were in Sheikh Maskin's main square and had taken
over the eastern and northern neighborhoods of the town which lies on a major
supply route from the Syrian capital, Damascus, to the city of Deraa, the army
said in a statement, reports Reuters.
A rebel source confirmed troops had entered parts of the
town and said fierce clashes were raging in the eastern neighbourhood known as
the Masaken - an area of dozens of apartment buildings that formerly housed top
army officers.
A commander in a leading rebel group fighting in the area
said the heavy Russian bombing on their posts, where rebels had counted at
least 100 raids in the past two days, had been decisive in tipping the balance
against the rebels.
"This is the heaviest Russian bombing on the side of
the regime in Deraa and without it the army, which faces manpower shortages,
would not have made these gains," said one commander from Jabhat Thuwwar
Souria, a group involved in the fighting.
Rebels from an array of groups - some of them backed by
Western powers and including the Islamist Muthana group - fought back against
the offensive near a former air base north of the town of Sheikh Maskin,
insurgents on the ground said.
The army assault on Sheikh Maskin is part of the
government's first major offensive in southern Syria since Russia joined the
fight on Sept. 30 to support its ally President Bashar al-Assad.
Its recapture would consolidate the army's hold over the
heavily fortified region which has formed a southern line of defense protecting
Damascus.
Russia, which did not confirm the strikes and has up to now
concentrated on the northwest and coastal areas, has said it is primarily
targeting hardline Islamic State fighters.
Washington and other regional powers have regularly accused
it of striking other anti-Assad rebel groups, seen as more moderate, that some
in the West hope will form part of a future settlement of the near five-year
war.
The army took the Brigade 82 base from the rebels on
Tuesday, lost it as bad weather set in, and took it once more overnight with
the support of the air strikes, said rebels.
Syria's army said it had made advances overnight against
insurgents who it said were mainly al Qaeda inspired groups.
Sheikh Maskin, the main goal of the army's southern
campaign, lies on one of the main supply routes from the capital Damascus to
the city of Deraa, close to the border with Jordan.
Securing the town would allow the army to press further
south in mainly rebel held towns such as Ibtaa, Dael and in Ataman near Deraa
city.
Rebels from another mainstream anti-Assad armed opposition
alongside some Islamist groups said they shelled army posts in the city of
Izraa, a main government held town that has major fortifications and is based
to the east of Sheikh Maskin.
Activists and residents say Russian air strikes, in which
missiles and bombs are launched from a high altitude, are distinct from Syrian
air force strikes which rely more on barrel bombs dropped from helicopters
flying at a lesser height.
Rebels still control large parts of the region, that also
borders Israel, but have been largely on the defensive since their failed
offensive in June to take the government-controlled part of Deraa city.
The south is the last major stronghold of the mainstream,
anti-Assad opposition, who have been weakened elsewhere by the expansion of the
ultra-hardline Islamic State group in the east and north, and gains by the
Nusra Front in the northwest.
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