Syrian, Russian airstrikes hit rebels

Thousands flee area in southwest Syria where cease-fire had held

BEIRUT — Syrian government forces advanced through southwestern Syria on Tuesday as tens of thousands of civilians fled Syrian and Russian airstrikes, piling on trucks and heading deeper into rebel-held territory.

With violence ramping up, diplomats and experts warn that the pocket could become a geopolitical tinderbox capable of destabilizing neighboring Jordan and triggering a wider conflict between Israel and Iran.

A cease-fire agreement between the United States, Russia and Jordan had largely kept the peace for months while the Syrian army concentrated on rebel-held regions closer to its capital, Damascus.

But with those conquered, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces have now turned their attention to Syria’s southwest, with help in recent days from Russian airstrikes.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said that forces loyal to Assad had taken control of the town of Busra alHarir and the nearby Lajat area, prompting an exodus of families and cutting the rebels’ stronghold in half.

“Warplanes and helicopters continued hovering in the skies above Daraa province,” said the group’s director, Rami Abdulrahman, placing the number of airstrikes in the hundreds.

Relief workers said hospitals had been targeted, too. According to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, which supports medical staff in opposition areas, an ambulance driver was killed Tuesday in Busra alHarir as he ferried patients to a clinic.

“Nothing can justify his killing,” said Ghanem Tayara, the organization’s chairman. “It is beyond comprehension that after six years, medical workers are still being killed with impunity.”

The Trump administration has frequently cited the southwest cease-fire, which came into force last summer, as evidence that Russia can make and adhere to agreements. But it remains unclear whether Moscow has the ability or willingness to impose its will on the Syrian government and its Iranian and militia allies.

The United Nations said Tuesday that at least 45,000 people have fled government advances in recent days, a figure that officials said could double as the fighting intensifies. But Jordan — already home to almost 700,000 registered Syrian refugees — said it would keep its border shut.

As Assad declared his intention to move into the southwest and initial skirmishes began, Israel and Jordan expressed alarm, fearing the presence of Iran-backed militias along their border, as well as a possible influx of refugees.

King Abdullah II of Jordan is in Washington this week and is expected to discuss the fate of Syria’s south with American officials.