Ground offensive by Syrian government follows week-long bombing of Deraa
As thousands flee, Russia says it will support de-escalation pact for area where it supplies regime with air power
Syria’s army launched a ground assault on the southern city of Deraa, state media said, after a week-long bombardment of the nearby countryside forced thousands of civilians to flee.
Strikes carried out by pro-government forces put four medical centres out of service overnight in rebel-held south-western Syria as a Russian-backed offensive gathered pace, UOSSM, a medical relief group that operates in the area, said yesterday.
The latest phase of the campaign came as Moscow said it was backing the de-escalation agreement covering the area that was reached last year despite the involvement of Russian air power in the bombardment.
For a week, government forces have ramped up their operations in Deraa province, an offensive which the United Nations says has forced 45,000 people to flee.
The move shattered the yearlong de-escalation agreement supported by Moscow and Washington.
But on Tuesday, state media said the army was launching an operation on the provincial capital itself, known widely as the cradle of Syria’s seven-year uprising.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor based in Britain, said it was the first ground operation in the city since the escalation began.
“Regime forces targeted the city of Deraa with more than 15 surface-to-surface missiles, and Russian and Syrian air strikes continue,” it said.
An AFP correspondent on the southern edge of Deraa city said he could see columns of smoke along the city’s skyline and two aircraft circling above amid the steady sound of air strikes and shelling.
State television reported: “Syria’s army is carrying out targeted air strikes against terrorist positions and fortifications in Deraa.”
Government news agency Sana said the strikes were a prelude “before military units advance into the south-east quarter of the city”.
Rebel groups mainly hold the southern half of the city, while loyalists control the north.
Syria’s army is pursuing a divide-and-conquer military strategy against rebels in the south, aiming to chop up the horseshoe-shaped territory that the opposition holds.
“The regime is seeking to take control of a military base south of the city, which will allow it to cut the route between Deraa city and the Jordanian border, as well as further divide the rebel areas,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Overnight, government forces had recaptured two villages in the east of Deraa province, which allowed them to sew up a rebel pocket, the monitor said.
A military source cited by state media said the army had seized Busr Al Harir and Mlehat Al Atash. Troops then arrived on the edges of the nearby town of Hirak, Sana reported.
Air strikes and barrel bombs on Tuesday caused “unparalleled destruction across the town and to its infrastructure”, resident Khaleel, 48, said.
Hirak’s hospital was put out of service several days ago by bombardment.
Raids on Tuesday also killed a rescue worker in the town of Busr Al Harir, according to the White Helmets rescue service.
The UN humanitarian co-ordination office in Syria said at least 45,000 people had fled the area in recent days.
Displaced families on Tuesday could be seen streaming out of rebel-held areas in vehicles piled high with mattresses, furniture and blankets.
In the distance, air strikes left huge brown-grey clouds of smoke hanging above agricultural fields.
Rebels hold most of Deraa and the adjacent province of Qunaitra, while the government holds a majority of Swaida to the east.
The army began an intense bombardment of Daraa’s eastern countryside last week, then started striking the rebel half of Deraa city.
On Tuesday, regime forces expanded the offensive.
Government bombardment has killed 38 civilians in a week, while 29 rebels and 24 pro-government fighters have been killed.
The United Nations had said that fighting was putting 750,000 people in rebel-held areas of the south in harm’s way.
More than five million people have fled abroad since the Syrian conflict started in 2011. Another six million are displaced inside the country.
Jordan said it can not absorb another wave of refugees and its border with Syria would remain closed. Amman has a duty to protect refugees, Amnesty International said while telling the Jordanian government it “must open its border to those fleeing Syria”.
Front lines had been relatively quiet for nearly a year under a de-escalation deal agreed last July. To avoid a bloody onslaught, Russia is leading talks with Syria, Jordan, Israel and the United States to reach a negotiated settlement.