Syrian army and allies step up bombing of rebels in Deraa city
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AMMAN -- The Syrian army and Iran-backed militia forces have escalated attacks against a rebel-held part of the southern city of Deraa, a possible prelude to a large-scale campaign to wrest full control of the city, rebels and residents said on Monday.
The intensive raids and bombing strikes mainly pounded the southern part of Deraa, strategically located on the border with Jordan and where the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad erupted six years ago.
The Syrian army has recently intensified dropping barrel bombs, drums or cylinders packed with shrapnel, and has fired hundreds of so-called elephant rockets on Deraa's old quarter and a former refugee camp nearby, rebels and residents said.
The army has not commented on its troop build-up in Deraa or the escalating aerial bombing. State media has long branded the rebels as foreign-backed "terrorists".
