DEADLY CLASHES IN SYRIA’S DARAA KILL 16

Thu 29 July 2021:

According to a war monitor, 13 combatants and three civilians were killed in Daraa, Syria’s southern province, on Thursday. The fights were the most violent since the regime took control of the region.

In 2018, the Syrian army, supported by Russia, recaptured Daraa from rebels. This was a symbolic blow to the anti-government uprising.

Tensions flared on Thursday, leading to what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called the “most violent and broadest clashes in Daraa since it came under regime control”.

Regime forces fired artillery shells towards Daraa al-Balad. There was also a ground push.

The gunmen launched a counterattack across many parts of the Daraa countryside where they seized several regime positions. They also captured regime fighters.

“Eight Syrian regime and allied militia fighters died during clashes across Daraa province in recent hours,” the Observatory said.

“Gunmen also captured more than 40 members of the regime forces” in Daraa’s western and eastern countryside, it said.

According to the Observatory, artillery fire from regime forces in several areas killed five gunmen and three civilians, including a mother and her child.

Many former rebels stayed in Daraa instead of evacuating under a Moscow-brokered deal, either joining the army or remaining in control of parts of the province.

-FILE PHOTO

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