The Syrian regime forces on Monday have launched a major offensive on an opposition enclave in the southern city of Daraa as Russia's mediation failed to cease escalations, local activists said.
The regime army backed by the Iran-led militias stepped up aerial and artillery shelling on the neighborhoods of Daraa al-Balad amid a massive wave of displacement, according to Zaman al-Wasl reporter.
The Syrian regime is in a bid to assert control over Daraa that has defied state authority since it was retaken three years ago.
The negotiations stumbled on Monday between rebels and the regime, following a provocative visit by the regime’s Defense Minister to Daraa who threatened to storm the area if rebels keep refusing to hand over all weapons.
The regime army, aided by Russian air power and Iranian militias, retook control of the province that borders Jordan and Israel’s Golan Heights in 2018.
Russian-brokered deals at the time forced opposition fighters to hand over heavy weapons but kept the army from entering many towns including the old quarter of the provincial capital known as Daraa al Balaad.
The regime army on Sunday blamed what it called terrorists for foiling several rounds of negotiations with opposition figures since last week to allow the army to set up checkpoints in the enclave.
Activists warned of a sad fate facing these families because Assad's forces used to take revenge on civilians, explaining that the besieged have been deprived of water, food and medicine for three days.
An army assault on the old quarter of Daraa suffered a blow on Thursday when opposition fighters mounted a counter-offensive across the province, capturing dozens of troops.
The army has since sent hundreds of elite troops, dozens of tanks and armored vehicles to storm the enclave where peaceful protests against Assad family rule began in 2011 and were met by deadly force before spreading across the country.
“The regime wants to end what they see as a living symbol of the revolt against it. If they silence it by returning the army they will subjugate the whole Hauran region,” Abu Jehad al-Horani, an opposition official, told Reuters from inside the enclave.
Damascus-based relief bodies said at least 2,000 families fled their homes since the fighting began on Thursday.
Ten years of war in Syria have killed 500,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6.7 million as refugees to neighbouring countries. (Zaman , Reuters)
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