(Zaman Al Wasl- agencies)- Syrian regime forces and allied fighters seized the town of Ataman near
Deraa city Friday, Hezbollah's Al Manar television and a Syrian
monitoring group said, building on gains made last week in the southern
province.
The recapture from rebels of Ataman, around 3 km (2 miles) north of Deraa, came a day after dozens of airstrikes believed to be carried out by Russian warplanes targeted the area, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Since Russia's intervention on its side in September, Damascus and its allies have pressed assaults throughout the west of the country, including Aleppo in the north, the coastal province Latakia and in Daraa, which lies south of Damascus and near the Jordanian border.
The regime army and its allies, which include Lebanese group Hezbollah, have in recent days made significant advances against insurgents in Aleppo province. The Russian-backed assaults have helped derail peace talks in Geneva.
A recent government gain in Daraa province was the recapture of the strategic town of Sheikh Maskin on Jan. 26, which secured army supply routes from the capital to the south.
Control of Ataman, considered the northern gateway to Daraa, would allow the army to reassert control over most parts of the city. The old quarter of the city, adjoining the Jordanian border, is still under rebel control.
The move also allows the army to expand its control in rebel-held areas in the eastern countryside of Daraa, where most towns have been in insurgent hands for two to three years, and could provide a more direct supply line to Daraa city.
A spokesman for Liwa al-Mutaz, the main rebel group in Ataman, said there had been heavy shelling of the area.
"It is the first time this happens with every weapon, (including) artillery and barrel bombs, aided by intensive Russian bombing," he said.
The spokesman did not confirm Ataman's fall, saying that heavy fighting continued.
Syrian state television said its armed forces and allies had "returned security and stability to the town of Ataman," without elaborating.
In northern Aleppo province, at least 30 people have been killed on Thursday as regime forces backed by Russian air strikes conduct the fiercest offensive on the rebel-held areas since the revolution erupted in March 2011.
This week, three days of intensive Russian bombing helped the regime army and allied fighters to break the siege imposed by rebels on Nubul and Zahraa towns for the first time in 3-1/2 years.
The clashes are still ongoing around the towns, activists said.
Rebels of northern countryside have formed a unified military council, calling for general mobilization to deter the attacks as concerns mount amid lack of weapons and supplies, local reporter said.
An army source told Reuters that the operations to fully encircle Aleppo from the west would happen soon.
The recapture from rebels of Ataman, around 3 km (2 miles) north of Deraa, came a day after dozens of airstrikes believed to be carried out by Russian warplanes targeted the area, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Since Russia's intervention on its side in September, Damascus and its allies have pressed assaults throughout the west of the country, including Aleppo in the north, the coastal province Latakia and in Daraa, which lies south of Damascus and near the Jordanian border.
The regime army and its allies, which include Lebanese group Hezbollah, have in recent days made significant advances against insurgents in Aleppo province. The Russian-backed assaults have helped derail peace talks in Geneva.
A recent government gain in Daraa province was the recapture of the strategic town of Sheikh Maskin on Jan. 26, which secured army supply routes from the capital to the south.
Control of Ataman, considered the northern gateway to Daraa, would allow the army to reassert control over most parts of the city. The old quarter of the city, adjoining the Jordanian border, is still under rebel control.
The move also allows the army to expand its control in rebel-held areas in the eastern countryside of Daraa, where most towns have been in insurgent hands for two to three years, and could provide a more direct supply line to Daraa city.
A spokesman for Liwa al-Mutaz, the main rebel group in Ataman, said there had been heavy shelling of the area.
"It is the first time this happens with every weapon, (including) artillery and barrel bombs, aided by intensive Russian bombing," he said.
The spokesman did not confirm Ataman's fall, saying that heavy fighting continued.
Syrian state television said its armed forces and allies had "returned security and stability to the town of Ataman," without elaborating.
In northern Aleppo province, at least 30 people have been killed on Thursday as regime forces backed by Russian air strikes conduct the fiercest offensive on the rebel-held areas since the revolution erupted in March 2011.
This week, three days of intensive Russian bombing helped the regime army and allied fighters to break the siege imposed by rebels on Nubul and Zahraa towns for the first time in 3-1/2 years.
The clashes are still ongoing around the towns, activists said.
Rebels of northern countryside have formed a unified military council, calling for general mobilization to deter the attacks as concerns mount amid lack of weapons and supplies, local reporter said.
An army source told Reuters that the operations to fully encircle Aleppo from the west would happen soon.
A senior, non-Syrian security source close to Damascus said Iranian fighters had played a crucial role in the latest breakthrough. "Qassem Soleimani is there in the same area," said the source, referring to the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds force responsible for overseas operations.
Aleppo, just 50 km (30 miles) south of the Turkish border, is a major strategic prize in the war and is currently divided into areas of government and opposition control. Many of the rebels fighting in and around Aleppo have close ties to Turkey.
The refugee crisis created by the five-year-long war moved back into focus as donors convened in London on Thursday, with countries pledging billions of dollars in aid to help the victims of a conflict that has forced millions from their homes.
Turkey said at the conference up to 70,000 refugees from Aleppo were moving toward the border due to air strikes. Rebels meanwhile said they hoped the failure of peace talks would encourage their foreign sponsors to send them better weapons.
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