Syrian regime close to capturing besieged Daraa, rebels say

Syrian regime forces and allied militias on Monday besieged the rebel-held enclave of Daraa and are poised to recapture the whole of the southern city, rebels said.

President Bashar al-Assad's regime is determined to retake control of the key southern province of Daraa - bordering Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - seven years after protests there sparked Syria's civil war.

Since 19 June, a deadly regime bombardment campaign on the province had caused more than 320,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN, many to the sealed border with Jordan.

Abu Shaima, a spokesman for the opposition in Daraa, said the regime has pushed into a main base west of the city before the formal evacuation of rebels opposed to a Russian-brokered surrender deal.

"The army and its militias have besieged Daraa completely," the rebel spokesman told Reuters.

On Friday, rebels and the regime announced a ceasefire deal, providing for opposition fighters to hand over their heavy weapons and paving the way for a regime takeover of the province.

Under the deal, rebel fighters opposed to the agreement are to be allowed to evacuate to opposition-held areas in northern Syria before the hand over of weapons and a return to regime rule.

The rebels say the deal does not allow the regime army to move into their bastions, instead allowing local forces -formed from ex-rebel fighters - to take over security under the oversight of the Russian military police.

"There is a lot of fear about the unknown fate and we do not trust the Russians or regime," Shaima added.

Since Russia intervened on Assad's side in Syria's conflict in 2015, the Damascus regime has notched up a series of victories against rebels in the country.

Regime forces, who secured the capital Damascus earlier this year, now control more than 60 percent of the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The deal between rebels and Russia announced for Daraa is the latest in a string of such accords to see Damascus regain control of rebel-held areas.

These often come after blistering military offensives or crippling sieges, which effectively force the rebels into the so-called "reconciliation" deals.