Syria regime launches fresh attacks in Daraa, E. Ghouta

DARAA, Syria (AA) - The Syrian regime on Tuesday launched a series of attacks on the southern city of Daraa and the East Ghouta region of capital Damascus, according to Daraa-based opposition commander Hussein Abu Zeid.

Following the expiration of a 48-hour ceasefire announced on Saturday, regime forces began striking opposition-held areas southwest of Daraa near the border with Jordan, Abu Zeid said.

“A regime attack on an opposition position east of Daraa was successfully repelled,” Abu Zeid told Anadolu Agency.

Opposition fighters, he said, had ambushed a regime concentration, killing more than 15 soldiers and destroying two combat tanks.

So far, armed opposition groups have prevented regime forces from taking the area linking central Daraa to the city’s western countryside.

According to Abu Zeid, regime forces on Tuesday also staged attacks on East Ghouta’s Jobar district and the nearby towns of Zamalka and Ayn Tarma, which have remained under regime siege for the last four years.

Syria has remained locked in a devastating civil war since early 2011.

While UN officials say as many as 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date, Syrian regime officials put the death toll in the tens of thousands.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara​