Syria celebrates retaking border
NASSIB BORDER CROSSING: Syrian Government forces took up positions and raised state flags at the Nassib border crossing with Jordan on Saturday, celebrating the recapture of a key trade route that rebels held for three years.
The forces in Deraa province recovered the crossing in an offensive that has swept into insurgent territory in southwest Syria with the help of heavy Russian air power.
Rebels agreed to give up arms in a Russianbrokered ceasefire deal, surrendering Deraa in another victory for President Bashar alAssad’s state and its allies.
The deal would take place in phases across Deraa, but there was no timeline yet, a rebel official said.
Concrete blocks near the Nassib border crossing were plastered with emblems of insurgent factions, while an army checkpoint at the entrance carried photos of Assad.
Dozens of Syrian soldiers, as well as Russian military police and armoured vehicles with the Russian flag, patrolled the crossing during a media tour. Plumes of smoke rose from territory to the east and a few explosions rang out in the background.
Reuters Television footage showed a long convoy of tanks and vehicles, carrying hundreds of forces and Syrian state flags, that appeared to be heading for western Deraa province, where insurgents still hold several towns.
Syrian state news agency SANA said troops had taken up their positions on Saturday after conducting clearing operations.
In a live broadcast from the border, state television showed groups of soldiers flashing victory signs, cheering for Assad and tearing up insurgent flags.
A field commander said the army had cut off rebel supply routes by seizing two towns that overlooked the highway leading to the Jordanian border.
‘‘There was fierce and intense resistance,’’ he said.
Only about five towns in southeast Deraa remained in insurgent hands, he said.
‘‘I believe they will decide to return to the state’s embrace, and if they are late in doing so, then we are ready to end it militarily.’’
Taking back the crossing paves the way for Damascus to reopen a route vital to its hopes of reviving Syria’s shattered economy and rebuilding in territory under its control.
In the past two weeks, fighting in the south uprooted more than 320,000 people, the United
Nations said, in the biggest exodus of the sevenyear war.
Nearly 60,000 people have gathered near the Jordan border and thousands more are seeking shelter at the frontier with the Israelioccupied Golan Heights. Both Israel and Jordan, which beefed up their border controls, said they would not let refugees in but distributed aid inside Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UKbased war monitor, said at least 28,000 people had returned in the past day to towns in eastern Deraa covered under the truce deal.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent said a convoy of food parcels from the UN World Food Programme was headed to Ibta town, which came under army control last week.
❛ I believe they will decide to return to the state’s embrace, and if they are late in doing so, then we are ready to end
it militarily