Assad’s forces bomb civilians

BEIRUT: A mother and her five children were among at least 19 civilians killed on Sunday in Syrian regime bombardment of the southern province of Daraa, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the six members of one family died in the rebel-held area of Dael. All of the children were under the age of 18.
Two brothers and another relative were killed in another house in the same air attack, the Britain-based group said.
It said a regime barrel bomb attack in the Al-Karak al-Sharqi area killed six people in the same family, including three women and a child, as well as a couple. Two more civilians died in raids on the rebel-held area of Tafas.
”The regime has intensified its air campaign after losing ground in Daraa province in recent months,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
It was in Daraa that peaceful demonstrations broke out against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, prompting a harsh crackdown that led to armed rebellion.
”The regime is trying to make up for its losses, but is bombarding houses where there are women and children,” Abdel Rahman said.
Rebels have gained two significant victories over the army by taking the main border crossing point with Jordan and the ancient town of Bosra al-Sham.
In the northeast, regime forces have also lost Idlib city, the second provincial capital to fall to the insurgency in four years.
Analysts say the rebels’ main backers Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have set aside their differences and supplied the insurgency with more weapons to halt regime advances and curb the influence of Damascus ally Iran.
Meanwhile, young Syrian men in regime-controlled areas are using any means necessary, including violent protests, to avoid military conscription—even if they support the government.
”I’m with the regime but I am a deserter, because military service in Syria means death,” said George, a Christian student from Damascus.”Very few young men accept to enlist because at our age, no one wants to die.”
As the territory that has fallen out of regime control is predominantly Muslim, the government is heavily recruiting from among the Druze, Christian, Alawite, and Ismaili minorities.
Now these communities feel they have paid a heavy price to defend President Bashar al-Assad’s rule against deadly opponents including Al-Qaeda-linked militants and the Islamic State jihadist group.