The Syrian government and its closest military ally – Russia – have intensified their bombing campaign in the southern province of Deraa, after ceasefire deal between rebels and Russians broke down on Wednesday.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said that had airstrikes intensified on Thursday as government troops advanced steadily to recapture lost territory.
“The relative lull in the fighting has now been shattered following the collapse of peace talks. Syrian government and Russian planes have been targeting a number of rebel-held towns in the province,” Khodr said.
Dozens of airstrikes were reported by activists, mainly targeting the towns of Tafas in the western countryside of Deraa and in the eastern countryside of Saida.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP news agency that hundreds of missiles and crude barrel bombs were unleashed by Syrian and Russian aircraft overnight through Thursday morning.
The war monitor said air strikes were ongoing, including on the town of Tafas in the northwest of Deraa province and on towns and villages near the Jordanian border.
Samer Homssi, who had fled to the outskirts of Deraa with his wife and four children, described a fierce onslaught of regime air strikes and shelling.
“The bombardment has not stopped for one moment since the announcement that the negotiations failed,” the 47-year-old, whose family was taking shelter in a grove of olive trees, told AFP news agency.
“We are living here in the olive trees, afraid of everything, the shelling, the insects, with no water to drink or any medical services nearby. The situation is very difficult.
Source – Al jazeera.