The new rebel group in Syria’s far south has said its aim is to reach Damascus.
In a statement shared with the CNNthe Southern Operations Room – a newly formed group representing southern rebels – called on government forces to defect “from the criminal gang of the Assad regime” and join the rebels.
“Our destination is Damascus, and our meeting point is the Umayyads public square,” the group said.
The group said it had captured a set of government posts along Jordan’s border with Syria.
“Our forces are now securing the border strip following the surrender of regime forces stationed there,” they added.
It began in 2012, when local activists formed Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups in Daraa. Fighters initially took control of the city of Daraa, but the regime later managed to retake it.
While there have been frequent low-level clashes between southern rebels and regime forces, the uprising in recent days marks the first major outbreak in years.
So far, regime forces have only fought on one front. The main rebel offensive began in the northwestern province of Idlib, but attacks have since pushed Bashar al-Assad’s troops further south on the long road to Damascus.
Now the Assad regime faces the prospect of a two-front fight, with the main offensive in the north and the new one gaining momentum in the south.
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.
