Syrian rebels in the south-west of the country, including groups backed by the West and Arab Gulf states, are facing simultaneous assaults by regime forces and ISIL, with at least 110 people reportedly killed by the extremists in 48 hours.
The fighting, which is taking place close to Syria’s borders with Israel and Jordan, was so intense that Amman closed nearby schools on Thursday, fearing the threat of stray shells or missiles.
For more than a week, rebels in the city of Deraa, 60 miles south of Damascus, have been battling a heavy air and ground assault by troops loyal to Syrian president Bashar Al Assad. Street fighting has raged across the frontline that divides Deraa’s urban centre in two – the northern section under Syrian regime control, and the southern sector in rebel hands.
Rebels say Damascus is trying to advance towards the Ramtha-Jumruk border crossing. All of Syria’s border posts with Jordan have been under rebel control since the last one fell to them in April 2015 and it would be a significant gain if regime forces could take one back.
Rebel forces involved in the fight include groups backed by the secretive Military Operations Command, or MOC, in Amman, which is staffed by western and Arab army and intelligence officers. Independent rebel factions are also involved, along with fighters from Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, the group formerly known as Jabhat Al Nusra before its split from Al Qaeda.
The rebels are facing Syrian military units, along with Iranian and Shiite militia groups. Iranian military forces have also been active in Syria’s southern region, where they have fought alongside the Russian air force. It is not clear, however, what level of involvement they have in the current Deraa offensive.
The attack in Deraa had been anticipated by rebels and onlookers since the fall of rebel-held territory in Aleppo in December. It was expected that, with resources freed up, the Syrian regime would redouble its efforts in the south, hoping to emulate its successes in the north.
Pro-government forces began their campaign in Deraa on February 9 with air strikes. According to Syrian opposition activists and rebel military sources in the city, hundreds of bombs, including notorious barrel bombs, were dropped for 10 days, destroying medical facilities, killing medical staff and hitting civilian areas.
Regime ground forces then began to advance south, pushing back a frontline that had been largely static for months. Rebels fought back and reversed some of those gains, taking regime positions in the area of Mansheyeh.
Although the regime push has so far failed to make a significant breakthrough, the assault was so intense, and the destruction to all major ad hoc medical facilities so complete, that the opposition-run local council responsible for administering rebel-held territory in Deraa declared the city a “disaster zone”.
As the rebels battle regime forces in Deraa, fighters allied with ISIL have launched their own assault on rebel-held territory to the west of the city.
In a lightning offensive on February 19, an ISIL affiliate called the Khaled Bin Waleed Army took control of Tal Jamoa’a, a strategically important hilltop and former regime military position, as well as the villages of Sahem Al Jolan, Tseel, Adwan and Jileen.
The Khaled Bin Waleed Army had been under a rebel-imposed siege in the area for months, after a failed attempt by MOC-backed factions to destroy it last year. The siege had, however, been leaky, and ISIL fighters and weapons had been smuggled through blockade lines with the connivance of some moderate rebels who received bribes from the extremists.

Source: The National