Illustrative image
On May 24, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) operations room in southern Syria known as “al-Bunyan al-Marsous” announced that FSA fighters had shelled a large convoy of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) after it arrived to the Shilka Battalion in the northern part of the city of Daraa.
Syrian pro-government sources didn’t report any loses as a result of the FSA shelling and the SAA didn’t response to the shelling yet.
The deployment of these troops in Daraa is a part of the ongoing preparation of the SAA and its allies to launch a large-scale military operation in southern Syria against the FSA and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). According to initial reports, the SAA 4th Division, the Republican Guard and the Tiger Forces will participate in the operation that will be backed by the Russian Aerospace Force.
On the other hand, Iran is not planning to join the upcoming military operation as Iran’s ambassador to Jordan Mojtaba Ferdosipour told the Jordanian al-Ghad newspaper on May 23.
Syrian pro-government activists believe that the city of Daraa, the Nassib border crossing with Jordan and large areas of the eastern and northeastern Daraa countryside are among the targets of the upcoming military operation. The operation could expand later to include parts of the western Daraa countryside and even al-Quneitra governorate, according to the activists.
Click to see the full-size image
