14 rebel group unite to defend Assad's offensive on Daraa

14 rebel group in Daraa province have announced forming a new brigade which will operate under Syria Revolutionaries Front, pro-western opposition unit.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army intensified its aerial bombardment of Daraa as opposition fighters were preparing to launch a wide offensive in a province bordering Jordan, activists said.

The Local Coordination Committees opposition network and an anti-government activist in the area said air raids and government shelling in the southern province of Daraa killed at least two people Friday, AP reported.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that airstrikes on several areas in Daraa killed a man and a child. It said warplanes and helicopter gunships attacked the towns of Enkhil and Ghabagheb, as well as the village of Naima and the capital of Daraa province, which carries the same name.

Daraa is where Syria’s uprising started nearly three years ago with anti-government protests that later spread throughout the country. The conflict turned into a civil war that has killed more than 140,000 people, according to opposition activists.