Syrian army ramps up attacks in southern region

The Syrian troops have unleashed a wide-scale offensive against radical militant groups in the southern region over the past 48 hours, namely in the provinces of Daraa and Qunaitera, local press reported Tuesday.

The pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the Syrian troops' offensive in Qunitara aims at recapturing the borderline separating that province from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front and likeminded groups seized control of large swathes of the borderline.

The army forces are also fighting "ferocious battles" in the countryside of Daraa, capturing the towns of Danji, Tal Meri, and the town of Deir Adas, said the report, adding that the army units recaptured tens of kilometers in Qunaitera as the clashes there are focused in the town of Mashara.

The report said that the rebels' fortifications in Deir Adas collapsed amid ongoing clashes in other areas in Daraa, namely the towns of Namer, Qarfa and Khurbet Ghazaleh.

The state news agency SANA also reported the intensification of the army operations in the countryside of Daraa, saying the army offensive against the armed "terrorist" groups in Daraa are incessant.

It stated that the areas between the countryside of the capital Damascus, Qunaitera and Daraa are witnessing a wide-scale offensive the Syrian army has waged against the rebels there, adding that tens of "terrorists" were killed, including field commanders.

It charged that the rebels who were entrenched in Deir Adas were supported and coordinated their actions with Israel, who has emerged as a sympathizer with the anti-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad groups.

Meanwhile, other local media reports said the Syrian army has received "clear orders" to decisively deal with the rebel-held areas in southern Syria.

Al-Mayadeen said people in Daraa are helping the Syrian government forces, by informing them with the positions of the rebel groups in several areas there.

The Lebanese al-Manar TV, which is close to the Syrian government, said the Syrian forces are swiftly advancing in the countryside of Daraa and Quniatera since the commencement of the wide-scale offensive there over the past 48 hours.

Local TVs aired footages of the raging clashes in southern Syria, as the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 rebels were killed in Tuesday's clashes in Daraa alone.

Military experts said the military operation in the southern region has strategic significance, as the army is attempting to recapture strategic points the Nusra Front and other radical groups had seized control of in the past few months.

Experts said the military operation aims to end the threats of the rebels in the countryside of Daraa, near the Jordanian borders, and in Qunaitera, on the borders with Israel.

The army puts the southern region in the top of its priority to cut the rebel supply lines and to weaken the Nusra and likeminded groups in Daraa and Qunaitera, according to military experts.

Experts also said that the presence of the radical rebels in both provinces poses a threat to the capital, which is only 100 kilometers away from either one of them.

In an interview published Tuesday, President Bashar al-Assad stressed that his country had taken the decision to fight terrorism since the beginning of the conflict nearly four years ago.

The embattled leader said his leadership cannot be part of the U.S.-led anti-terror coalition, accusing the coalition's members of being backers of the terrorist groups fighting to topple him.

Syria "cannot be part of an alliance with a country that support terrorists, because the countries that comprise the coalition, or most of them, support terrorism," he said during an interview with BBC, whose full text was published by SANA.

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