Local factions took control this Saturday of 80% of Deraa provincein southern Syria, after the capture yesterday, Friday, of the capital of that province that was already the cradle of the 2011 popular revolts against the Government of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assadactivists reported.
“Local factions took control of 80% of Deraa province, where they advanced into dozens of towns, villages and cities, including Al Harir Base, Nawa, Inkhil and Mahja, after the (Damascus) regime forces withdraw from checkpoints and military barracks,” he said. the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
This NGO, whose headquarters are in the United Kingdom but which has a wide network of collaborators on the ground both in official areas and under the control of the insurgents, indicated that these factions called the Syrian Government troops and the security services in Deraa to which They will desert immediately.
On the other hand, the network of activists Daraa 24 He assured in his official account that the factions did not arrest any soldiers from the Air Force intelligence headquarters in the city of Deraa, after the departure of security forces from the area was negotiated.
Yesterday the creation of a Southern Operations Command in the insurgency against Al Assad, who in a statement confirmed the “liberation” of Deraa, in which he addressed “a comprehensive national posture that preserves the institutions and capabilities of the State, and in which the people of Syria elect those who will take it hand in hand with justice and equality to build a unified Syria”.
Deraa, located in southern Syria and bordering Jordan, was the cradle of the so-called mobilizations in 2011. Arab Spring.
In 2018 it returned to Syrian government control under a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russiaan ally of Al Assad, although factions opposing the president have been present in the area since then and launching sporadic incursions.
The Jordanian Government announced yesterday that closed its border crossing with Syria over the “security conditions” in southern Syria.
Also in the province of Al Sueida, a population of the Druze minority and east of Deraa, its governor fled and the city was “out of control” of the Syrian Armyactivists indicated.
For its part, the Syrian Army confirmed that it has withdrawn its units from both provinces after “terrorist elements“They attacked checkpoints, while saying they had imposed a “security cordon” in those areas.
“Our forces operating in Deraa and Al Sueida implemented a withdrawal, positioning and establishment of a defensive and security cordon, strong and cohesivein that direction after terrorist elements attacked checkpoints and distant Army points with the aim of distracting our Armed Forces,” the Syrian Army said in a statement.
The General Command of the Army and the Armed Forces also confirmed that its units “face the course of events out of concern for the security of the homeland and of the citizens and will confront this terrorism with all firmness and force.”
In this way, Damascus and the province of Rif Damascus, north of Deraa, could become even more isolated, after the insurgent offensive led by the Levant Liberation Agency (heir to the former Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda) continues to advance its offensive towards the city of Homs, in central Syria.
The insurgent coalition, which also includes rebels supported by Turkey, assured last night that it is “at the gates” of the city of Homs, after controlling the cities of Aleppo and Hama, both provincial capitals.
The conflict shakes the provinces of Homs and Hama
The objective of these terrorist attacks, according to the Syrian Army, is “to distract our Armed Forces, which began to regain control of the situation in Homs and Hama against the terrorist organizations,” the note states. The army would have been carrying out “intense” air attacks, together with its ally Russia, and ground attacks against “terrorists” on the outskirts of both provinces.
“Our forces operating on the outskirts of Hama and Homs are carrying out intense artillery and missile fire against terrorist positions and supply linesachieving direct hits between them,” an unnamed Syrian military source said, according to the official Syrian news agency, SANA.
The informant indicated that “joint Syrian-Russian warplanes also carried out attacks against terrorist concentrations in the northeast of Homseliminating dozens of them, and destroying their vehicles and equipment.”
The number of civilian deaths from the various attacks launched by the Syrian Army since yesterday, Friday, has increased to 21, including five children, according to the Observatory.
In fact, the last official communication from the Syrian Presidency was on December 2, with no news about the president at the moment.
Iran denies having abandoned its embassy in Syria as the ‘New York Times’ reported
Iran denied this Saturday that has vacated its embassy in Damascus and assured that his diplomatic legation in the Syrian capital continues with its normal activities, in the midst of the Islamist offensive that continues to advance.
“The Iranian embassy in Damascus is fully operational and continues with its usual activities“said the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ismail Baghaeiin statements reported by Iranian media.
The Foreign Ministry’s denial comes after the American newspaper New York Times inform that Tehran would be withdrawing its military and diplomatic personnel from Syria, both from the embassy in Damascus and from military bases of the Revolutionary Guard that it maintains on Syrian soil.
Baghaei stated that the information about the diplomatic evacuation “they are not true“and said nothing about the alleged Iranian military withdrawal from Syria in the face of the rebel advance.
Iran is, along with Russia and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, the main ally of Damascus and Their help and military intervention was decisive in preventing the collapse of the Syrian Government since 2012.
These three allies of President Al Assad are now in a weak situation, after Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon has seriously damaged the capabilities of the armed group, while Russia is involved in the invasion of Ukraine.
Tehran officially maintains its unwavering support for Damascus in the face of what Iranian authorities have described as a “American-Zionist conspiracy”.
This Saturday it is scheduled to take place in Qatar, on the margins of the Doha Forum, a tripartite meeting between Russia, Iran and Türkiyethe main supporter and support of the insurgent groups against the Syrian president, to seek a solution to the crisis.
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