BEIRUT: Thousands of civilians have fled “intensified” government bombardments of rebel-held areas in southern Syria in the past three days, a monitor said on Thursday, as fears mount of a full-blown assault.
President Bashar al Assad has set his sights on retaking rebel-controlled parts of southern Syria, whether through negotiations or a military operation, and has been amassing troops there in recent weeks.
So far, no deal has been struck to avert fighting over the southern opposition stronghold that borders Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
On Thursday, a Britain-based war monitor said the government had ramped up its bombardment of Daraa province, leading thousands to flee for their lives.
“More than 12,000 civilians have fled their homes in the last three days after government forces intensified their shelling and air strikes on eastern” Daraa, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.
The civilians fleeing areas including Nahta, Al Herak and Basr al Harir were “heading to nearby villages under rebel control not affected by the bombardment near the Jordanian border” to the south, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Opposition fighters control around two-thirds of Daraa, which borders Jordan, but the government holds a sliver of territory in the centre of the province.
The IS militant group also holds a pocket of ground in the province.
The areas in eastern Daraa bombarded in recent days lie on a strip of land flanked by government-held territory to the east and west.
— AFP
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