Syrian army steps up offensive on rebel

According to residents, military and opposition source Syrian elite forces aided by pro-Iranian militias stepped up an offensive on Tuesday against a rebel enclave in a southwestern pocket bordering Jordan and Israel.

Fighting escalated earlier this week after the collapse of a Russian peace plan meant to avert an all-out offensive against Deraa al-Balaad, the core of the city of Deraa that has defied state authority since surrounding Deraa province was recaptured by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in 2018.

Witnesses and military sources that dozens of improvised missiles were fired into Deraa al-Balaad by the Syrian military’s pro-Iranian Fourth Division, backed by Iranian-financed local militias.