(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 300 Islamist fighters will leave the last Sunni-rebel held bastion near the Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights due to a new evacuation deal reached with the regime army near the capital, local activists and monitoring group said.
A convoy of 'green' buses has already arrived to the town of Sa’sa’ to carry fighters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who want to leave to northern idlib province while tens of fighters from Ahrar al-Sham and Itihad Quwat Jabal al Sheikh will head southern Daraa province, activist Moaz Hamza told Zaman al-Wasl.
On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that negotiations are ongoing in the town of Beit Jin at the foothills of Mount Hermon six months of regime bombing to reach an agreement over ensuring the exit former al-Qaeda group and Free Syrian Army units from from the region.
The regime army forces backed by Iranian-backed militias advanced east and south of Beit Jin backed by some of the heaviest aerial bombing and heavy artillery shelling since a major assault began over two months ago to seize the area, Reuters reported.
The enclave is the last rebel bastion left southwest of Damascus known as the Western Ghouta that had since last year fallen under government control after months of heavy bombing on civilian areas and years of siege tactics that forced rebels to surrender.
A Western intelligence source confirmed rebel reports that Iranian-backed militias including Hezbollah were playing a major role in the ongoing battles.
"The Iranian-backed militias are trying to consolidate their sphere of influence all the way from southwest of Damascus to the Israeli border," said Suhaib al Ruhail, an official from the Liwa al Furqan rebel group that operates in the area.
Weeks of escalation
Worried by Iran's expanding influence in Syria after the defeat of Islamic State, Israel has stepped up its strikes in the past few weeks against suspected Iranian targets inside Syria.
Early this month, an Israeli strike on a base near Kiswah, an area south of Damascus, was widely believed to be an Iranian military compound, according to a Western intelligence source.
Israel has been lobbying both big powers to deny Iran, Hezbollah and other Shia militias any permanent bases in Syria, and to keep them away from the Golan, as they gain ground while helping Damascus beat back Sunni-led rebels.
The southwest of Syria is part of a de-escalation zone in southern Syria agreed last July between Russia and Washington, the first such understanding between the two powers.
The area has not seen Russian bombing unlike other ceasefire areas in Syria.
Rebels still have a sizeable presence in central and southern Quneitra, in the Syrian Golan Heights.
Western diplomatic sources say the crushing of the Sunni rebel presence in areas they have been in since 2013 will allow Hezbollah to open another secure arms supply line from its border in southern Lebanon into Syria.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, Iran has had a growing presence in the country, deploying thousands of Shia fighters who have fought against both mainstream Sunni rebel groups and more militant groups. (With Reuters)
Zaman Al Wasl
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.