Syrian army bombards rebels in flashpoint southwest region
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The Syrian army and its allies bombarded rebels in the southwestern Deraa region on Friday, killing at least six people, a war monitor said, in a region widely seen as a potential flashpoint for further escalation in the conflict.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the army had shelled the towns of Kafr Shams and al-Harah, near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights region.
It was the highest death toll from bombing since a "de-escalation zone" was agreed in southwest Syria last year by the government's ally Russia, along with Jordan and the United States.
President Bashar al-Assad has sworn to take back every inch of Syria and has been preparing an assault on rebels holding areas in the southwest bordering Israel and Jordan.
