Syrian rebels kill four soldiers in Daraa

BEIRUT: Four Syrian soldiers were killed when opposition fighters attacked army checkpoints in the southern province of Daraa on Monday, state media reported, as escalating violence threatened a truce deal.

Daraa, regarded as the birthplace of Syria’s 2011 uprising and held for years by opposition forces, was returned to government control in 2018 under a previous Moscow-backed ceasefire that had allowed rebels to stay in some areas of the province.

But since late July local armed groups have exchanged artillery fire with government forces and the regime has imposed a crippling siege on Daraa city’s southern district of Daraa al-Balad, seen as a hub for former rebels.

Last week, rebels began evacuating Daraa al-Balad as part of a new Russian-brokered truce agreement, but new clashes have significantly undermined the deal, with battles raging in several parts of the province on Monday. The official SANA news agency said that an attack by opposition fighters on army checkpoints in Daraa killed four soldiers and wounded 15.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that regime forces had increased artillery attacks on Daraa al-Balad earlier in the day. Monday’s artillery fire was "unprecedented", the monitor said, reporting an escalation as opposition fighters tried to repel an attempt by regime forces to storm the district.