Militants in the countryside of Daraa in southern Syria launched simultaneous attacks on the Syrian regime forces, in conjunction with a visit by a Russian fact-finding delegation.
Meanwhile, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen expressed growing concern over the developments in the region.
His comments came following the meeting of the Humanitarian Task Force of the International Support Group for Syria in Geneva on Thursday.
“Increased hostilities, which have included heavy shelling and intensified ground clashes, have resulted in civilian casualties, as well as damage to civilian infrastructures,” Pedersen’s office said in a statement.
“Thousands of civilians have been forced to flee Daraa Al-Balad. Civilians are suffering with acute shortages of fuel, cooking gas, water, and bread. Medical assistance is in short supply to treat the injured […]. The situation is alarming,” it added.
In a statement issued on July 31, the UN special envoy renewed his call for an immediate cessation of violence and for all parties to adhere to the principle of protecting civilians and civilian property in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law.
He also stressed the need to allow immediate, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all affected areas and communities, including Daraa al-Balad.
Regarding field developments, local fighters launched sporadic attacks at dawn on Thursday on sites and positions belonging to the Syrian regime forces in the western and northern countryside of Daraa.
Clashes also took place in the city of Sheikh Miskeen, and the Yarmouk Basin area, west of Daraa. Gunmen launched an attack on the cultural center in Jassim city in the northern countryside of Daraa, amid a continued escalation by the Fourth Division on the city of Daraa al-Balad and its outskirts, where a girl was seriously injured as a result of the bombing of residential neighborhoods.
Strikes were held across the areas of Daraa governorate, during which residents expressed rejection of the siege imposed on civilians in the city of Daraa al-Balad and Al-Sad Road by the forces of the Fourth Division.
Local sources said that Russian military police forces toured a number of villages in the eastern countryside of Daraa, and inspected the regime’s military checkpoints, which were recently attacked by local fighters.
All the negotiations that took place between the Central Negotiating Committee in Daraa al-Balad and the Security Committee of the Syrian regime in Daraa over the past few days have failed, despite the Russian participation and promises of peaceful solutions and the cessation of military operations.
