Daraa, known as the \u2018cradle of the revolution\u2019 is fourth city al-Assad loses in a single week
\n Hama
\nThe Syrian army has withdrawn from much of the southern region as opposition fighters continue their lightning offensive, making gains in Daraa and Sweida.
\nDaraa-based opposition forces on Saturday said they seized control of the city, the fourth strategic loss for President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s forces in a week.
\nDaraa was dubbed \u201cthe cradle of the revolution\u201d early in Syria\u2019s war as government repression of protests failed to quell the people\u2019s anger over the detention and torture of a group of boys for scribbling anti-Assad graffiti on their school walls in 2011. In April of that year, the regime besieged the city, a move seen as having militarised the revolution.
\nOn Friday evening, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said local factions had taken control of more than 90 percent of Daraa province, including the eponymous city.
\nIn neighbouring Sweida, the Syrian Observatory and local media said the Syrian army had withdrawn and the governor, the police and prison chiefs, and the local Baath Party leader had left their offices as local fighters took control of several checkpoints.
\nSweida is the heartland of Syria\u2019s Druze minority and has witnessed antigovernment demonstrations for more than a year, as the cost of living shot up and tens of thousands of Druze men refused to undertake compulsory military service.
\nAfter the fall of Daraa and Sweida early Saturday, Syrian government forces remained in control of Damascus, Homs, Latakia and Tartus.
\nThe Observatory also said the Syrian army on Saturday withdrew from Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
\nLosing ground
\n\u201cOur forces operating in Daraa and Sweida are redeploying and establishing a \u2026 security cordon \u2026 after terrorist elements attacked remote army checkpoints,\u201d the army general command said in a statement carried by Syrian state media on Saturday.
\nThe army said it was setting up a \u201cdefensive and security belt in the area,\u201d apparently to defend Damascus from the south.
\nThe army added it was \u201cbeginning to regain control in Homs and Hama provinces\u201d as Al Jazeera\u2019s Zeina Khodr reported from Lebanon that Syrian and Russian air strikes hit north Homs in the early hours of Saturday morning.
\nHama fell to opposition fighters on Thursday and they advanced southwards towards Homs, five days after they took the second-largest city of Aleppo.
\n\u201c[Opposition forces] are now at the gates of Homs,\u201d said Khodr, reporting from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.
\n\u201cThey have repeated a call to government troops to surrender,\u201d she said. \u201cThis could indicate that the government intends to put up a fight.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s unclear whether or not they can hold on to Homs, a strategic city at the crossroads between Damascus and the regime\u2019s heartlands along the coast.\u201d
\nSince a rebel alliance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched its lightning offensive on November 27, the government has steadily lost ground.
\nAs the army and its Iran-backed militia allies pulled out of Deir az Zor in eastern Syria, Kurdish-led forces said on Friday they had crossed the Euphrates River and taken control of the territory that had been vacated.
\nNever in the war had al-Assad\u2019s forces lost control of so many key cities in such a short space of time.
\nDiplomatic push
\nTurkiye\u2019s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to meet with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Doha on Saturday to seek a solution to the renewed fighting in Syria and prevent chaos on its borders.
\nThe three countries have been partners since 2017 in the Astana process seeking to end the war in Syria, even as they support opposite sides on the battlefield.
\nMoscow and Tehran supported al-Assad in crushing the opposition while Ankara supported various rebel movements and views their recent advances favourably.
\n\u201cDiplomacy now may focus on working out an exit option for the regime and ensuring an orderly transition,\u201d Berkay Mandiraci, a senior Turkiye analyst at the International Crisis Group told Al Jazeera.
\n\u201cThe unexpected rebel advances \u2026 came at a time when the regime\u2019s main backers \u2013 Russia and Iranian proxies \u2013 have been bogged down in other conflict theatres,\u201d Mandiraci added.
\nOn Friday, Syrian Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh met in Baghdad with his Iraqi and Iranian counterparts, warning that the offensive threatens regional stability.
\nIraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein condemned the offensive, and said Iraq \u201ccannot be part of any war\u201d.
\nSyria\u2019s civil war has killed more than 500,000 people and forced more than half the population to flee their homes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daraa, known as the \u2018cradle of the revolution\u2019 is fourth city al-Assad loses in a single week Hama The Syrian army has withdrawn from much of the southern region as opposition fighters continue their lightning offensive, making gains in Daraa and Sweida. Daraa-based opposition forces on Saturday said they seized control of the city, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-448063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n