The National - News

RUSSIA’S ‘BETRAYAL’ BITES SYRIAN OPPOSITION

▶ Rebels want reactivati­on of ‘de-escalation’ agreement, after humiliatio­n at talks to end fighting

- MINA ALDROUBI

Russia unleashed heavy air raids on Deraa province on Thursday as the Syrian opposition accused Moscow of betraying its obligation to uphold a ceasefire in the country’s south-west.

The renewed bombardmen­t ended a four-day lull in a government offensive to retake Deraa as Russia negotiated with rebel groups to hand over control of the area to Damascus.

The talks collapsed on Wednesday with the rebels rejecting the demands laid down by Russia, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Mr Al Assad has set his sights on recapturin­g Deraa, considered the cradle of the uprising against him in 2011, as well as neighbouri­ng Quneitra province, which borders Jordan

and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region.

“We expected Russia to take a different stance towards the Syrian people, yet we knew when the uprising happened that the Russian president was going to support the brutal regime,” Yahya Al Aridi, spokesman for the Syrian High Negotiatio­ns Committee, told The National.

The bombardmen­t and ground assaults by pro-Assad forces have killed more than 100 civilians and forced about 330,000 to flee their homes, triggering a new humanitari­an crisis in Syria’s seven-year war.

World powers criticised the offensive for breaching a de-escalation deal for southern Syrian that Moscow, Washington and Amman agreed upon last June, which was intended to reduce fighting and prevent it from reaching the borders with Jordan and Israel. The truce had largely held until Mr Al Assad’s forces launched the offensive on Deraa on June 9.

“There needs to be a reactivati­on of the de-escalation agreement and for Russia to respect its word. It seems that it’s not used to respecting its words,” Mr Al Aridi said. Washington, he said, agreed to the ceasefire because of its “closeness to Israel – what concerns the US the most in this region is Israel and it security”.

“Israel claims either Assad stays in power, or let Syria get destroyed, as long as its borders are protected by the regime,” Mr Al Aridi said.

In May, the US government warned of “firm and appropriat­e measures” if Mr Al Assad attacked the de-escalation zone but later told rebels there that it would not intervene on their behalf.

“As the world remains silent and the US being loose in its policy, it has allowed Putin to turn Syrians into mice by testing out his weapons,” Mr Al Aridi said. “There is no considerat­ion for the civilians who are being punished daily.”

The displaced residents of Deraa are living in dire and insecure conditions, including 60,000 at the border with Jordan, according to the UN. Jordan and Israel have kept their borders closed despite mounting calls by rights groups to let Syrian civilians cross to safety.

The Syrian Observator­y for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said about 600 air strikes were reported in Deraa after the truce negotiatio­ns collapsed on Wednesday, including on rebel-held parts of Deraa city, the provincial capital.

The state news agency Sana said Syrian troops entered the town of Saida after intense clashes. It is about six kilometres from the Naseeb border crossing with Jordan, a major trade conduit and one of the main goals of Mr Al Assad’s offensive.

The Observator­y said that Thursday’s bombardmen­t was an “attempt to make the rebels back down after they refused to subject themselves to the Russian terms for a ceasefire”.

The air strikes resumed on Wednesday after rebels met Russian negotiator­s and declared the talks a failure. Moscow had demand that they surrender their heavy weapons.

“These were not negotiatio­ns but pressures, threats and humiliatio­ns,” said Ibrahim Jabawi, spokesman for the rebels’ joint operations room.

Mr Al Aridi said the Russians’ claim that they were “combating terrorists in the region” was flawed because “ISIS and Al Nusra fighters escaped by shaving their beards and disguising themselves as women”.

“It seems even children who say ‘no’ to the Assad regime are considered terrorists,” he said.

More than 30 towns have surrendere­d since the offensive began, extending the regime’s control to about 60 per cent of the province.

Last week, the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, expressed concern: “If the south-west sees a full-scale battle to the end, it could be like eastern Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta combined” – a reference to previous regime offensives that took a heavy toll on civilians.

 ?? AFP ?? About 600 air raids were reported in Deraa province and its capital city after the truce negotiatio­ns collapsed on Wednesday
AFP About 600 air raids were reported in Deraa province and its capital city after the truce negotiatio­ns collapsed on Wednesday

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