Rebels say Assad's forces bombed opposition-held areas

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Syrian rebels said the government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on opposition areas of the southwest on Friday for the first time in a year, in defiance of US demands that President Bashar al-Assad halt the assault.

Assad has sworn to recapture the area bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and the army began ramping up an assault there this week, threatening a "de-escalation" zone agreed by the United States and Russia last year.

The United States on Thursday reiterated its demand that the zone be respected, warning Assad and his Russian allies of "serious repercussions" of violations. It accused Damascus of initiating air strikes, artillery and rocket attacks.

People walk on rubble of damaged buildings in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria, March 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

A major offensive risks a wider escalation that could draw the United States deeper into the war. The southwest is of strategic concern to US-allied Israel, which has this year stepped up attacks on Iran-backed militia allied to Assad.

The barrel bombs targeted a cluster of rebel-held towns including Busra al-Harir northeast of Deraa city, where the government attack threatens to bisect a finger of rebel ground jutting northwards into land held by the government.

Abu Bakr al-Hassan, spokesman for the rebel group Jaish al-Thawra, which fights under the banner of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said the munitions had been dropped on three towns and villages, and that war planes had hit another. Syrian state television said on Friday that army units had targeted "lairs and movements of terrorists" in the area.

Rebels said government forces have made heavy use of artillery and rockets in the assault, but they haven't drawn on air power that was critical to the recovery of other rebel-held areas.

Internally displaced from Deraa province stand next to belongings near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in Quneitra, Syria, June 21, 2018. /VCG Photo

Russia's ambassador to Lebanon was quoted as saying that Russia was helping Damascus to recover the south.

"We say that the Syrian army now, with support from Russian forces, is recovering its land in the south and restoring the authority of the Syrian state," Alexander Zasypkin told the pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar.

"Israel has no justification to carry out any action that obstructs the fight against terrorism," he added.

Source(s): Reuters