BFF-46 Shells hit south Syria city for first time in three years

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SYRIA-CONFLICT-SOUTH

Shells hit south Syria city for first time in three years

BEIRUT, June 19, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Rebel shellfire slammed into the
southern Syrian city of Sweida on Tuesday for the first time in three years,
a monitor said, as fresh regime reinforcements arrived in the area.

The government holds most of Sweida province but rebels still control
much of the nearby Daraa and Quneitra governorates.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said opposition
forces fired shells into Sweida city, “which led to loud blasts but no
casualties.”

“It is the first time since 2015 that the city has been subjected to
shellfire,” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

Syrian state news agency SANA also blamed rebels “spread out in the towns
and villages in eastern parts of Daraa province” for firing shells on Sweida.

Sweida, whose residents are mostly from the Druze minority, has remained
relatively insulated from seven years of war that ravaged the rest of the
country.

But rebels hold a sliver of territory in western Sweida that borders
their main bastion in the province of Daraa, and clashes and exchanges of
fire have erupted in that area in recent days. Syria’s government has set its
sights on ousting rebels from the south and has been dispatching troops and
equipment there for weeks.

On Tuesday, they dropped new flyers on the rebel-held half of Daraa city,
calling on residents to expel rebels, “like your brothers did in Eastern
Ghouta and Qalamun,” referring to two areas near Damascus recently recaptured
from the opposition.

Rebels appeared to fear the regime would use Sweida’s civilian population
as justification for the assault, and issued a message addressed to them on
Tuesday.

“We call on our people in Sweida province not to serve as bait for the
goals of the regime, sectarian militias from Iran, and Hezbollah, which are
trying to occupy this land and divide its people,” they said in a statement.

But the government has also hinted that a political settlement over the
south’s fate could be reached.

“We have moved towards the south and we are giving the political process
a chance,” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last week.

“If that doesn’t succeed, we have no other option but to liberate it by
force.”

BSS/AFP/ARS/1936 hrs