Evacuations halt as Syria regime pounds south

BEIRUT: Regime forces bombarded southern Syria yesterday, as the evacuation of rebel fighters under a ceasefire deal for the region was postponed, reports AFP quoting a monitor and an opposition official.

Opposition fighters in the southern province of Daraa announced a ceasefire deal late Friday with regime ally Russia to end more than two weeks of deadly regime bombardment.

Under that deal, rebels who wished to do so were to leave areas in the strategic southern province to be retaken by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

But on Sunday morning, regime air strikes killed four civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian warplanes pounded Um al-Mayazeen just five kilometres (three miles) north of the Jordanian border, killing three civilians, said the Britain-based monitor.

"Regime forces launched an assault on the village," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, two days after they retook control of the key border crossing of Nassib to the south.

 Earlier, rebel fire on a regime convoy on the highway near Um al-Mayazeen had killed several soldiers, Abdel Rahman said, without providing a toll.

A regime air strike on the rebel-held half of the provincial capital of Daraa also killed one civilian, he said.

 A rebel official said the evacuation of opposition fighters and their families to rebel-held areas in northern Syria was temporarily put on hold.

 

Evacuations halt as Syria regime pounds south

BEIRUT: Regime forces bombarded southern Syria yesterday, as the evacuation of rebel fighters under a ceasefire deal for the region was postponed, reports AFP quoting a monitor and an opposition official. Opposition fighters in the southern province of Daraa announced a ceasefire deal late Friday with regime ally Russia to end more than two weeks of deadly regime bombardment. Under that deal, rebels who wished to do so were to leave areas in the strategic southern province to be retaken by President Bashar al-Assads regime. But on Sunday morning, regime air strikes killed four civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syrian warplanes pounded Um al-Mayazeen just five kilometres (three miles) north of the Jordanian border, killing three civilians, said the Britain-based monitor. Regime forces launched an assault on the village, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, two days after they retook control of the key border crossing of Nassib to the south. Earlier, rebel fire on a regime convoy on the highway near Um al-Mayazeen had killed several soldiers, Abdel Rahman said, without providing a toll. A regime air strike on the rebel-held half of the provincial capital of Daraa also killed one civilian, he said. A rebel official said the evacuation of opposition fighters and their families to rebel-held areas in northern Syria was temporarily put on hold.