The Syrian regime has reclaimed a sliver of territory in southern Syria that was under the control of Islamic State, sealing its military victory in the strategic southern territories that rebelled in 2011 against Bashar al-Assadand fully reestablishing its hold over the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said forces loyal to the Syrian regime had taken control of the last towns and villages in the province of Daraa that were under the control of Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed, an Isis affiliate that controlled the Syrian part of the Yarmouk River basin, a tributary that runs through Syria, Jordan and Israel.
The military victory in the area means Assad now fully controls the province of Daraa, the birthplace of protests in 2011 that spread throughout the country and challenged his family’s totalitarian rule.
Most cities in Daraa and Quneitra capitulated in “reconciliation” deals that gave rebels and civilians a choice between forced eviction into opposition areas in northern Syria or reconciliation with the Assad regime. Most have decided to stay, and some rebel groups joined the regime’s offensive against Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed.
Some humanitarian activists, including rescue workers, who are part of the collective known as White Helmets, remain trapped in parts of Daraa and Quneitra and have issued urgent appeals for their rescue. The Assad regime has reportedly refused to permit their evacuation, and the Syrian president has told a Russian media agency that if they did not lay down their weapons, they would be killed.
After the rebel-held areas in Daraa and Quneitra were defeated, Assad’s forces launched a major bombardment of the Yarmuk Basin. This bombing continued despite an Isis attack on the neighboring province of Sweida, which killed nearly 250 people.
Islamic State fighters also abducted 20 local women and girls and threatened to execute them if the regime continued its attack. Their fate is now uncertain after the resumption of the campaign and the Isis defeat.