Assad forces execute 12 troopers over 'treason' charge in Daraa

 (Zaman Al Wasl)-  Activists loyal to the Syrian regime said Saturday 12 officers and soldiers were summarily killed in Daraa province over charges of cooperating with rebels what caused the loss of military bases last month.

The official Facebook page of National Defense militia in Daraa province assured killing of 12 troopers in 9 Division by the armed forces that have been waging a fierce assault on Syrian south since Wednesday to recapture territory and military bases were controlled by the Southern Front, key rebel group belongs to the Free Syrian Army (FSA). 

State-run media justified the recent defeats in Daraa by accusing some army soldiers of cooperating with rebels, especially after the fall of of Brigade 82 in Sheikh Miskeen two weeks ago.

Media close to the Syrian government and Hezbollah said the operation had been several weeks in the planning.

Bashar al-Assad’s forces and their Lebanese Shi'ite allies took new ground in a major offensive in Daraa province on Wednesday, pressing a campaign against rebels posing one of the biggest remaining threats to Damascus, according to Reuters.

Sources on both sides of the southern battlefront said the offensive aimed to shield the capital Damascus, a short drive to the north. The insurgents had made significant gains in the south in recent months, taking several military bases.

Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Quds Force, is believed to be the top commander of the offensive on Daraa, activists said.

Reports said Soleimani backed by Hezbollah fighters have carried on, and for the first time, full battles against rebels without any participation from the Assad side. Suleiman wants to eliminate FSA from the south, activists said.

"This is the biggest offensive so far," said Assad Zoubi, a defected Syrian army colonel based in Jordan's capital Amman who is affiliated with the Southern Front groups. "Their aim is to move towards and recapture the strategic Tel Hara which the rebels took nearly six months ago," he told Reuters.

In their turn, rebels said dozens of Assad soldiers and Shiite militants were killed in the battles and many held captive, according to rebel Twitter feeds.

The southern rebels have received aid including what they describe as small amounts of military support through an operations room based in Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally determined to keep its Syrian frontier safe from jihadists.

Most rebels of Daraa, who are fighting to topple Bashar al-Assad, belong to the Southern Front, which includes some 30,000 fighters from more than 55 mainstream opposition groups operating from the Jordanian border to the outskirts of Damascus and the Golan Heights.

Al Qaeda's Syrian arm, the Nusra Front, is also active in the south, which stretches up to the frontiers with Jordan and Israel, while rival Islamic State jihadists control much of the north and east of the country.

Syria's conflict, now in its fourth year, has killed more than 220,000 people and caused millions to flee.

(Editing by Anwar Diab)