Syria And Russia Resume Southern Offensive After Talks Collapse

Cover: Syrian soldiers load artillery shells in Kahil town, Daraa province, Syria, on 3 July (Picture: PA).

Syrian and Russian forces have resumed a wide-scale offensive after negotiations between Russia and the rebels collapsed.

Forces launched a wave of air strikes against rebel-held areas in the south-west of Syria on Wednesday and pushed into the major town of Saida.

The government's advance in the southern Daraa province, which began on 19 June, has captured wide areas and forced an estimated 330,000 people to flee their homes.

Opposition activists claim scores of civilians have been killed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported some 600 air strikes in Daraa province.

The Observatory said that with the capture of Saida, Syrian troops are now about four miles from the Naseeb border crossing with Jordan - one of the main goals of the offensive.

The latest wave of attacks comes after a four-day pause during which rebels negotiated with the Russians about how to end the violence.

Ibrahim Jabawi, spokesman for the rebels' joint operations room, said:

"These were not negotiations but pressures, dictations, threats and humiliations."

He added that the Jordanians are working on resuming the talks between rebels and the Russians in south-western Syria.

Mr Jabawi said the Russians had insisted that the rebels hand over their weapons before discussing any other topic.

The rebels refused to hand over their weapons "immediately”, but would do so in later stages when the displaced begin returning to their homes and Iran-backed militiamen withdraw from the area, he said.