(Zaman Al Wals)- Syrian and Russian fighters jets pounded opposition areas in southern Syrian a head of major offensive to retake the provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and parts of Sweida.
Local activists and rebel commanders expect a deadliest assault similar to the offensive on the Eastern Ghouta suburbs two months ago.
On Sunday, Russian jets struck the town of Busra la-Harir, northeast of Daraa, in the first air cover provided by Moscow to regime army to recapture the strategic area bordering Jordan and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, Reuters reported.
Two tracking centers that monitor military aircraft movements recorded at least twenty strikes on Busra al-Harir.
"We have tracked a sortie of 5 Russian jets that performed 25 raids," said one source saying the war jets had set off from Russia's Hmeimim air base in the western coastal province of Latakia in Syria.
Local activists said at least four people were killed in Sunday, topping the death toll to 30 in the last five days.
Syrian regime forces had so far made heavy use of artillery and rockets in the current assault, and Russian warplanes that were critical to the recovery of other rebel-held areas had not been deployed until now.
Bashar Assad has sworn to recapture the sensitive strategic area and the army began ramping up its assault there last week, threatening a "de-escalation" zone agreed by the United States and Russia last year.
Throwing in Russia's full military weight in the campaign to regain southern Syria will weaken the ability of mainstream Free Syrian Army rebel groups to withstand relentless bombing on civilian areas that forced their compatriots in other areas to submit to surrender deals.
Opposition hopes had been raised after Washington warned Assad and his Russian allies that violations of the zone would have "serious repercussions" and pledged "firm and appropriate measures".
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said earlier on Friday that the regime military escalation "unambiguously violates" the de-escalation arrangement.
"Russia will ultimately bear responsibility for any further escalations in Syria," Haley said in a statement.
Rebels in southern Syria have received support, including arms from Assad’s foreign foes during the seven-year-long war .
But analysts believe the aid has dropped after U.S. President Donald Trump decided last year to shut down a military aid program run by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Unless an agreement is reached between Moscow and Washington over the fate of southern Syria, a big offensive risks an escalation that could draw the United States deeper into the war.
Southwest Syria is of strategic concern to U.S.-allied Israel, which this year has stepped up attacks on Iran-backed militia allied to Assad.
U.S ally Jordan which had long said the zone had brought relative calm on its northern border announced it was engaged in intensive diplomacy with Washington and Moscow to preserve the zone and prevent a wider confrontation.
"We stress the importance of respecting the agreement and we are working to prevent the explosion of the situation," Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a tweet Friday.
Jordan has expressed deep concern over the offensive, saying on Sunday it would be unable to host a new wave of Syrian refugees
"The large number of Syrians we're hosting in terms of financial resources and infrastructure does not allow for the reception of a new wave of asylum seekers," Jumana Ghanimat, minister of state for media affairs, told AFP.
Some 650,000 Syrian refugees have registered with the United Nations in Jordan since fleeing their country's seven-year war which was sparked by peaceful anti-regime protests in 2011.
Amman estimates the actual number is closer to 1.3 million people and says it has spent more than US$10 billion (RM40 billion) hosting them.
"Jordan has not and will not abandon its humanitarian role and its commitment to international charters, but it has exceeded its ability to absorb (more refugees)," said Ghanimat, who also serves as a spokeswoman for the government.
"Everyone should cooperate to deal with any new wave of displacement within Syria's borders," she said, adding Jordan would work with "concerned organizations" to find an arrangement for the displaced inside Syria. (Agencies, Zaman Al Wasl)
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