Syria rebels gain ground in Golan: watchdog

Syrian rebels have gained ground in the Golan Heights, which is partly occupied by Israel, launching coordinated attacks in the area and in nearby Daraa province, a watchdog said today.

“It appears that the rebels launched coordinated attacks on multiple parts of the Golan, taking control of areas and villages in the province of Quneitra,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Overnight, the Observatory said, “rebels took control of the Mashati al-Khodr and Dawar Khan Arnaba regions, as well as artillery bases” after heavy fighting in Quneitra province.

“Violent clashes have also been under way since this morning in the areas of Sahem and Wadi al-Yarmuk” in Daraa province in southern Syria, the group said.

Rebels seized an officers’ club in Jaline village, “after the withdrawal of soldiers,” while regime forces shelled the town of Sahem al-Jolan.

Syrian state television, meanwhile, in a news bulletin said the “armed forces restored security and stability to the towns of Al-Talal al-Hamr, Al-Sharqiya and Khan Arnaba after eliminating several Al-Nusra Front terrorists.”

Lebanese security sources told AFP that around 220 Syrians, including several wounded, had crossed the border from southern Syria over the past 24 hours.

The offensive came as a security official in Damascus told AFP some 2,500 trained and equipped rebels had entered the Daraa region in recent weeks.

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