The army, backed by fighters from Leb's Hizbullah
...
Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as
The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
, began an offensive at the beginning of the week in Daraa, the province bordering Israel that was the cradle of the revolt against
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
.
Regime forces had indicated that the operation was aimed at "breaking the band of territory (the rebels) are trying to create" along the border.
At least 50 rebels were killed and 43 soldiers, members of Hizbullah, Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Syrian pro-regime militia, according to the Britannia-based monitor, which has a network of civilian, medical and military sources across Syria.
The Observatory also said 10 soldiers had been executed after being accused of collaborating with rebels in Daraa by giving them information about military movements.
"Hizbullah doesn't have a lot of confidence in the Syrian army because there have been several cases of soldiers giving the rebels information," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France-Presse.
His group said Hizbullah, which is reported to have some 5,000 fighters in Syria, is leading the regime offensive in the south.
The rebels and their al-Nusra
...the current nom de guerre of al-Qaeda in the Levant, which isn't to be confused with al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Levant...
Front jihadist allies have been making advances in southern provinces that are strategic because of their proximity to Damascus, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Since the start of October 2013, rebel forces have controlled a band of territory in the sector along the border with Jordan.