The Syrian army and its allies bombarded rebels in the south-western 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 south-west 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 south-west bordering Israel and Jordan.
His military gains in the war have partly depended on support from Iran and allied Shiite militias including Lebanon's Hezbollah, which have provided ground forces.
Israel wants those forces removed from all of Syria, but is particularly sensitive to their presence near its frontier, and has carried out numerous air strikes against them. It regards Iran as its biggest external threat, and Hezbollah as the biggest threat on its borders.
The United States has also warned the Syrian government it would take "firm and appropriate measures" in response to any violations of the south-west de-escalation zone.
Any major battle in the area might risk a serious escalation in Syria's seven-year war, pitting Israel more directly against Iran and its allies.
On Wednesday, Mr Al Assad said in an interview that his government was still pursing a political solution for the south-west, but would use military force if that failed.
A commander in the military coalition backing Mr Al Assad also said this week that the preparations for an offensive in the area were complete, and that the government had installed new anti-aircraft defences near the Golan Heights frontier.
Calls
Directed by: Fede Alvarez
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Karen Gillian, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
4/5
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
How to help
Call the hotline on 0502955999 or send "thenational" to the following numbers:
2289 - Dh10
2252 - Dh50
6025 - Dh20
6027 - Dh100
6026 - Dh200
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
