[ad_1]
In March 2011, the Deraa region was the birthplace of the insurgency against Bashar al-Assad, and the post office building had been in rebel hands since the first days of the uprising.
The Syrian Army hoisted the national flag in the rebel sector of the city of Deraa on Thursday, July 12, the cradle of the revolt against Bashar al-Assad in 2011, a symbolic gesture illustrating the new victory won by the regime and its Russian ally
An AFP correspondent in Deraa was able to see a convoy of Russian military policemen and Syrian regime officers, accompanied by journalists, entering the center of Deraa, chief – the place of the province of the same name, for the ceremony.
Once again, the Syrian president resorted to a strategy combining deadly bombings and negotiations sponsored by Moscow, to bend the rebels in this the southern province, a sensitive area bordering Jordan and the Israel-Golan Heights boundary line, partly annexed by the Jewish State.
See also:
The planned end of the Syrian South rebellion
Nearly three weeks after the regime's offensive in that province, insurgent factions were forced to accept on July 6 an agreement called "1945-9015" "Reconciliation" negotiated by Russia, which It is in fact akin to capitulation.
This agreement imposes on the rebels the abandonment of their heavy and medium artillery. It also provides for the return of state institutions in insurgent sectors and the departure of fighters refusing to remain under the control of the regime towards the province of Idleb (north-west) which still largely escapes Assad's forces. "Syrian army units (are) entered Deraa al-Balad (downtown) and hoisted the national flag in the public square" said the official Sana news agency on Thursday.
See also:
Washington will not defend the rebels of southern Syria against the Assad regime
But the gesture is for the moment "symbolic" estimated the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), stating that the procedures provided for in the agreement have not
"The rebel factions are still in the city of Deraa, those who want reconciliation have yet to abandon their artillery, the procedures have not started yet" said the director of the NGO, Rami Abdel Rahman
Demoralize the rebels
"Probably in the days to come, the combatants refusing the reconciliation will be evacuated (…). Then the regime will officially enter and will carry out checks " entrusted to AFP the militant Omar al-Hariri, in the city of Deraa. "At that moment, we can say that the city is totally under his control" he adds. Thanks to the military support of its Russian and Iranian allies, Damascus now controls more than 60% of the country, devastated since 2011 by a war that has left more than 350,000 dead and millions of exiles.
Located at a hundred of kilometers from the capital, the loss of Deraa is all the more symbolic that the city is considered the "cradle" anti-Assad demonstrations of 2011.
On March 6, 2011, a fortnight of teenagers seduced by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, had scribbled on the walls of their school slogans hostile to the president, marking the beginning of a larger uprising.
See also:
Eastern Ghouta, tomb of the Syrian revolution
The Syrian government has now taken over 80% of the province of Deraa. Rebel localities in the West are still waiting for an application of the agreement.
For badyst Nick Heras, by raising the flag in the city of Deraa, the power seeks to demoralize the rebels who still oppose a recovery of their sectors in the province. "Deraa was to be a bastion of the revolution, resistant to Assad to the end" but now the regime "can broadcast images to show the world that the city can no longer fight" said this expert at the Center for a New American Strategy.
Israeli missiles
Tension has also mounted in the rebel territories of Quneitra, another area of southern Syria that borders the line of demarcation with Israel directly
On Wednesday night, Israeli missiles hit positions of the Syrian army in that province. Israel has confirmed to have struck "three military positions in Syria" after having "intercepted" a "Syrian drone" .
Due to the offensive of the regime in the south, 325,000 people had to flee their homes in the province of Deraa according to the UN. Some 200,000 IDPs are still living near the border with Israel, the organization said. Other tens of thousands took advantage of the lull after the so-called reconciliation agreement to return home.
Despite the progress of the regime, Syria remains fragmented. Insurgents still control territories in the North, where they are protected by Turkey. Kurdish fighters backed by Washington hold areas in the north-east, while Idleb province is dominated by jihadists.
Source link
