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Fighting in Syrian city of Daraa kills one civilian and four soldiers
According to the Arab News, Syria’s pro-regime media reported that Bashar Assad’s forces retaliated against fire by opposition fighters inside the city of Daraa and that attacks on army checkpoints in the city left four soldiers dead and 15 wounded.
It said several civilians were wounded in insurgent shelling of regime-occupied parts of Daraa.
The Arab News mentioned, the opposition blamed the regime for the escalation, saying that troops were pressing an offensive to force insurgents to surrender.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the government’s elite 4th Division and pro-regime gunmen tried to storm the opposition-held old quarter of Daraa known as Daraa Al-Balad.
According to the opposition’s Syrian civil defense, also known as the White Helmets, at least one person was killed and another wounded in shelling on Daraa Al-Balad.
Read more: Fighting in the Syrian province of Daraa displaces over 38,000 people
The Arab News added, Russia has been mediating a new deal to end the recent fighting in Daraa under which insurgents who reject the deal will have to leave the region.
It is worth noting that last week, Syrian authorities ordered about 100 gunmen to leave Daraa Al-Balad.
A few left to opposition-held areas in the north, but dozens defied the order and stayed.
As part of the deal, regime forces were supposed to enter Daraa Al-Balad after the departure of the hardcore opposition gunmen.
Other insurgents who accept the deal would have to hand over their weapons in return for amnesty.
Source: arabnews
