Rebels have taken control of a border crossing between Syria and Jordan, as fighters consolidate their gains in southern Syria after a new offensive this Friday (6).
In a video geolocated by CNN, Armed fighters can be seen marching down a road near the Nassib border crossing.
The pass marks the southernmost point of the main M5 highway, which runs north from the city of Aleppo and passes through the capital Damascus.
After capturing Aleppo a week ago, rebel fighters advanced south along the highway. On Thursday (5), they took the city of Hama, and now they have their eyes on Homs.
This Friday, Jordan’s Interior Minister, Mazen Al-Faraya, announced that the Jaber border crossing, which is opposite the Nassib border crossing in Syria, was closed due to the security crisis.
The rebels in the north will be reinforced by the new offensive in the south. Earlier on Friday, insurgents captured a series of border posts further west in Daraa province.
Understand the conflict in Syria
Syria’s civil war began during the Arab Spring in 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
The country was plunged into full-scale conflict when a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to fight government troops.
Furthermore, the Islamic State, a terrorist group, also managed to gain a foothold in the country and came to control 70% of Syrian territory.
Fighting escalated as other regional actors and world powers — from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia — joined in, escalating the country’s war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.”
Russia has allied with Bashar al-Assad’s government to fight the Islamic State and rebels, while the United States has led an international coalition to repel the terrorist group.
After a ceasefire agreement in 2020, the conflict remained largely “dormant”, with minor clashes between the rebels and the Assad regime.
More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the UN, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.
