by Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
President Assad's forces seize al-Haara hill in Daraa province close to the Golan Heights border with Israel
The Syrian army and
its allies have taken control of a strategic hill overlooking the
Israeli border in the Golan Heights as it pushes forward with an
offensive to seize the remaining parts of the southwest from rebels,
state TV and rebels said on Monday.
It said the army had taken control of
al-Haara hill on the second day of an offensive to take back the last
parts of southwest Syria in Quneitra province that are in rebel hands
and are close to the border with Israel.
The hilltop, which had a major
anti-aircraft radar base that was part of elaborate Syrian army defenses
against Israel, and is the highest ground in Daraa province, fell into
rebel hands in October 2014.
It has been heavily bombed by Russian and
Syrian army raids in the past two days as the army has moved closer to
the Israeli border after gaining control of most of Daraa province to
the east in a push that began last June, according to rebels and a war
monitor.
A Syrian army source quoted by state media
said the army had made territorial gains in Quneitra province where it
seized the town of Masharah, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the
Golan frontier.
Rebels said Russian and Syrian jets
intensively bombed a string of rebel-held towns in Quneitra to force
them to surrender in a strategy that offers rebels the choice of either
evacuating to opposition-held areas or being recruited into state-run
militias.
The army said the rebel-held towns of
Qusaiba, Sweisa and Ain Teineh had raised the national flag, but rebel
sources said these towns were being bombarded into submission.
The violence is taking place a few miles
away from the line marking the start of the United Nations Disengagement
Observer Force zone, an area monitored by a U.N. force since 1974.
Israel has threatened a "harsh response" to
any attempt by Syrian forces to deploy in that zone. Israel does not
want its enemies Iran and Hezbollah, both allies of Syrian President
Bashar Assad, who are well-entrenched in that area, to move forces near
its border.
The offensive aims at completing its
control of the strategic area known as the "Triangle of Death," which
connects southern the Damascus countryside with Daraa and Quneitra
provinces.
The area is a bastion of Iranian-backed militias including Hezbollah group, according to Western intelligence sources.
Israel signaled it would not impede the
Syrian army offensive in Quenitra as long as it steered away from the
demilitarised zone, even as it struck Syrian army posts near the
frontier and elsewhere in Syria where it suspects Iranian backed forces
are stationed.
Syria accused Tel Aviv on Sunday of
attacking the Nairab air base in Aleppo on Sunday where a Western
intelligence source said the Iranian military had a presence. There were
reports that several officers, including Iranians, had been killed, the
source said without elaborating.
Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/07/17/syrian-army-captures-strategic-hill-overlooking-israeli-border/
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment