Rebels in Deraa face attacks on two fronts
Moderates backed by West and Gulf Arab states dealt a big blow in southern Syria after being hounded by regime and ISIL
AMMAN // Syrian rebels in the south- west of the country, including groups backed by the West and Gulf Arab states, are facing simultaneous assaults by government forces and ISIL, with at least 110 people killed by the extremists in 48 hours.
The fighting, which is taking place close to Syria’s borders with Israel and Jordan, was so intense that Amman closed nearby schools yesterday, fearing the threat of stray shells or missiles.
For more than a week, rebels in the city of Deraa, 97 kilometres south of Damascus, have been battling a heavy air and ground assault by troops loyal to Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.
Street fighting has raged across the frontline that cuts Deraa’s urban centre in two – the northern section under Syrian govern- ment control, and the southern sector in rebel hands.
Rebels said Damascus was trying to advance towards the Ramtha-Jumruk border crossing.
All of Syria’s border posts with Jordan have been under rebel control since the last one fell to them in April 2015 and it would be a significant gain if regime forces could take one back.
Rebel forces involved in the fight include groups backed by the secretive Military Operations Command (Moc) in Amman, which is staffed by western and Arab army and intelligence officers.
Independent rebel factions are also involved, along with fighters from Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, the group formerly known as Jabhat Al Nusra before its split from Al Qaeda.
The rebels are facing Syrian military units, along with Iranian and Shiite militia groups.
Iranian military forces have also been active in Syria’s south- ern region, where they have fought alongside the Russian air force. But it is not clear what level of involvement they have in the current Deraa offensive.
The attack in Deraa had been anticipated by rebels and analysts since the fall of rebel-held territory in Aleppo in December. It was expected that, with resources freed up, the Syrian government would redouble its efforts in the south.
Pro- Assad forces began their campaign in Deraa on February 9 with air strikes.
According to Syrian opposition activists and rebel military sources in the city, hundreds of bombs were dropped for 10 days, destroying all of the major ad hoc medical facilities in rebel-held Deraa, killing medical staff and hitting civilian areas. Government ground forces then began to advance south, pushing back a frontline that had been largely static for months. Rebels fought back and reversed some of those gains, taking regime positions in the area of Mansheyeh.
As the rebels battle goverment forces in Deraa, fighters allied with ISIL have launched an assault on rebel-held territory to the west of the city.
In a lightning offensive on February 19, an ISIL affiliate called the Khaled bin Waleed Army took control of Tal Jamoa’a, a hilltop and former government military position, and the villages of Sahem Al Jolan, Tseel, Adwan and Jileen.
This army had been under a rebel-imposed siege in the area for months after a failed attempt by Moc-backed factions to destroy it last year. But the siege had been porous and ISIL fighters and weapons had been smuggled through blockade lines with the connivance of some moderate rebels who took bribes from the extremists.
ISIL’s success in taking new territory near the border with Israel appears to have been aided by sleeper cells in the villages it seized.
These were all activated at midnight on Sunday, catching moderate rebel factions by surprise.
Another critical element in ISIL’s success was the absence of any air attacks against them – government and Russian air strikes have been directed solely at more moderate rebel factions.
Rebels and independent military analysts also said the government offensive in Deraa had played a central role in allowing ISIL to make gains west of the city.
ISIL-linked social media sources said there had been a rapid collapse of rebel defence lines, with 20 members of the Free Syrian Army killed in the process.
Casualty numbers were unclear but in the opening hours of the fighting, at least 9 ISIL fighters and 18 moderate rebels were killed. The death toll has since climbed rapidly, with opposition activists in the area saying 110 people – mainly rebel fighters but also civilians – had been killed by ISIL in the 48 hours that followed the capture of the villages. Some were reportedly killed as punishment because family members were fighting for moderate factions.
Following the assault, moderate rebels shored up their lines and counter-attacked. By Tuesday, they had retaken Tal Jamoa’a and Adwan but ISIL fought back and a day later, had once again forced the rebels out.
All of Syria’s border posts with Jordan have been under rebel control since the last one fell to them in April 2015