Syria army says ‘redeploying’ in southern Daraa, Sweida provinces

Syria’s army says it is redeploying in two southern provinces, after a war monitor reported government forces had lost control of most of Daraa province, the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising.

“Our forces operating in Daraa and Sweida are redeploying and repositioning, and establishing a… security cordon in that direction after terrorist elements attacked remote army checkpoints,” the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces says in a statement carried by state media.

On Friday evening, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said local factions had taken control of more than 90 percent of Daraa, including the eponymous city. In neighbouring Sweida, the Britain-based monitor and local media said the governor, the police and prison chiefs, and the local ruling Baath Party leader had left their offices as local fighters took control of several checkpoints.