Syrian rebels deliver heavy weapons in the city of Daraa: state media

Syrian rebels in the southern city of Daraa handed heavy weapons to government forces on Saturday, according to official media, according to an agreement negotiated by Russia

. The fighters in the Daraa al-Balad neighborhood, in the southern part of the rebel-held town, handed over heavy ammunition and other equipment.

It is a day after the regime and the rebels began dismantling the land barriers that had divided the city for years, AFP correspondent said that the agreement reached on Wednesday will see the city of Daraa. – The cradle of the seven-year Syrian uprising – falls back under the control of the government.

Negotiated by Moscow, it provides that the rebels deliver heavy and medium-weight weapons and legally "reconcile" with the government, according to Those who rejected the agreement would be allowed to get out of the city safely .

The terms reflect a wider agreement announced on July 6 for the whole province of Daraa, which would be implemented in three stages: the eastern campaign first, then the city and finally the west of the province

While the rebels handed over arms to government forces in dozens of cities, no transfer of fighters or civilians to the north has yet occurred. ] Daraa offers are the latest in a series of "reconciliation" agreements that typically follow militant military offensives.

After using the strategy to secure Damascus and other strategic parts of Syria since 2015, President Bashar al-Assad turned his attention to the south. . As of June 19, Syrian and Russian bombings are bombarding the rebel areas of Daraa and the neighboring province of Quneitra, ostensibly protected by an internationally recognized ceasefire.

The badault ends with the July 6th ceasefire.

The regime's forces now hold more than 80 percent of the province of Daraa, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a Britain-based war watchman who relies on on a network of sources in the interior of the country. The Syrian conflict has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions since its inception in 2011.