Insurgents from the Free Syrian Army and Islamist factions Jabhat Al Nusra and Ahrar Ash Sham on Saturday morning took control of the Old Customs Area in Daraa Al Balad, near the Ramtha border crossing with Jordan.
Jordan’s Assabeel newspaper on Saturday offered more information, and said that insurgents had succeeded in capturing the Daraa-Ramtha border crossing.
Assabeel cites a telephone conversation between Turkey’s Anatolia News Agency and a Free Syrian Army commander, Yasser Aboud, who told the agency that the crossing fell to the insurgency after a battle involving FSA brigades and two Islamist brigades.
Those brigades were not named in the conversation; however on Friday, EA reported that Jabhat al Nusra and Ahrar Ash Sham had both made video statements announcing their participation in the battle.
Aboud told Anatolia that the regime made heavy use of airstrikes and shelling in an attempt to drive the insurgent forces back and regain control of the crossing, but warplanes had to fire from a high altitude because they feared that the insurgents would fire on them, which reduced their accuracy. The regime also relied on shelling and did not send ground troops to reinforce the airstrikes.
Footage from Jabhat al-Nusra of insurgents at the post:
Following the takeover of the area, the Shaam News Network released this video of Jabhat Al Nusra in Daraa Al Balad, with a regime tank captured after the insurgent takeover of the base.
Footage showing FSA commander Yasser Aboud planning the battle with a map:
Footage showing FSA commander Yasser Aboud planning the battle by driving around in the area:
