Civilians flee fighting in Syrian southwest
Thousands of people have fled rebel-held areas of southwestern Syria being targeted by government bombardment, a war monitor said on Thursday, as Damascus steps up attacks on an area near the border with Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some 12,500 people had fled opposition-held areas of northeastern Deraa province in the past 48 hours.
The war has pivoted towards the southwest since the Syrian government and its allies crushed the last remaining pockets of rebel-held territory near Damascus and the city of Homs.
Fighting in the southwest has been contained since last year by a "de-escalation" deal agreed by the United States and Russia, President Bashar Assad's most powerful ally.
