Syria Conflict: Military declares full capture of southern provinces

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Europe

02:30

The Syrian military says it has regained full control of the Yarmouk basin region in southwestern Daraa. The whole Daraa Governorate is now free of rebels. Militant groups will evacuate to the rebel-held areas in northern Syria under a Russian-backed deal. CGTN's Alaa Ebrahim has the details.

These picturesque scenes were the site of the last battles of control of Southern parts of the country, here in Al-Yarmouk valley that stretches along the borders between Syria and Jordan and goes all the way west to the Israeli occupied Golan Heights. And it was here that ISIL tried to stop advancing Syrian army units and hold to its last enclave southwest of Dara'a province.

CAPTAIN WA'ED SYRIAN ARMY 4TH ARMORED DIVISION "We combed through the valley from this dam known as Wahdeh dam all the way towards to Golan, and we eliminated the last ISIL militants who were entrenched here."

But the world's most dangerous terror group didn't fade away without a fight.

LIEUTENANT GIATH SYRIAN ARMY ENGINEERING UNITS "It wasn't an easy fight, but the mission was to secure the borders and we accomplished that. We had to use everything we had, infantry and armored units, and then search the area for multiple boobytraps ISIL left behind."

For the residents of towns here to the far south-west of Syria the new development carried many changes, now they won't be living under the Army of Khaled anymore. The radical that pledged allegiance to the Islamic state since 2015.

WALID AHMD RESIDENT OF SHAJARRA TOWN "When the army offensive began, ISIL fighters started falling back. The foreigners took the smuggling routes out of the country and the local fighters remained. Ten days later they were defeated and we are now back to our houses."

SAMEH RESIDENT OF SHAJARRA TOWN "Life was full of humiliation under the armed groups. They taxed everything and we had to pay prices as high as ten times the original value, but now the nightmare is over."

And as Syrian army soldiers stand on the lookout they savor a victory that many thought unlikely merely a few months ago, taking the province that was the birthplace of the protests and insurgency against Damascus. The soldier's eyes on the next battle that many expect will be on the other tip of the country to the far north in Edlib. Alaa Ebrahim, CGTN, Dara'a.