30 killed since beginning of Dara’a offensive

Russia wants to discuss assault with US National Security Adviser John Bolton at the earliest

Government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on the city of Dara’a yesterday, a rebel and a war monitor said, extending an assault in southwest Syria.

The bombardment has killed about 30 people since it began on 19 June, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Along with the barrel bombs — containers stuffed with explosives — the helicopters dropped leaflets saying the army was coming, urging people to “kick out the terrorists as your brothers did in eastern Ghouta”.

The region is politically sensitive because of its location near Israel and Jordan and the existence there of a “de-escalation” deal agreed between the US, Jordan and Syrian government ally Russia.

Prompt response

Washington has warned Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and his Russian allies that violations of the deal would prompt a response, but rebels said it had also told them not to expect any American military support.

In Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by RIA news agency as saying Russian officials hope to discuss southwest Syria with US National Security Adviser John Bolton soon, and separately with Jordan.

Al Assad has turned to the southwest after driving rebels from their last besieged enclaves in western Syria, including eastern Ghouta near Damascus, earlier this year.

It is one of two major areas still held by the rebels, along with Idlib province on the border with Turkey in the northwest.

Dara’a, the southwest’s largest city, was an early centre of the uprising against Al Assad in 2011 and has been split into rebel and government sectors for years.

Recent fighting has focused on the town of Busr Al Harir, half way along a narrow rebel salient stretching into government areas northeast of Dara’a.

If taken, it would split that salient in half, putting the northern part under siege.