Insurgents and citizen journalists are reporting that insurgents have control over Tafas city in Dar’aa Province, after regime troops withdrew from the al-Aghrar Barracks and other positions in the city.

Footage of a video statement claiming insurgent control of Tafas city:

Mosques in Tafas celebrating the insurgents’ capture of the town:

A tour of the al-Tableen checkpoint, captured by insurgents on Friday:

A tour of the al-Aghrar barracks after their capture by insurgents:

The Free Syrian Army’s Yarmouk Brigade hold dawn prayers inside the captured al-Aghrar barracks:

Insurgents recover medicines after taking control of the barracks:

Activists in Tafas called on civilians to take care and to not return to their homes yet, until insurgents had seen what the regime’s reaction to its fall would be; and until they had been able to clear the town of cluster bombs planted by regime troops.

Citizen journalists and activists report that there are power outages in Tafas on Saturday night, and that fires burning in the regime barracks captured by the insurgents can be seen from neighboring Jordan. Regime forces pounded the town all day, after pro-Assad troops withdrew, with artillery and rocket fire.

Control of Tafas will allow the insurgents to control the road leading from the town into the northern neighborhoods of Dar’aa city, which will prevent regime forces from being able to use the road to transport supplies to troops fighting in the city.

The Shaam News Network explains more about the significance of the insurgent takeover of Tafas:

“The liberation of this city is significant for several reasons. First, it cripples the daily regime shelling on the city and surrounding villages. Second, it cuts off a key route used by Assad forces between the city of Nawa and Dar’aa (the capital of the province). Third, residents who own farms and fields around the city can now return to their lands without worrying about Assad occupation. Fourth, and quite important, is that regime forces stationed at Atableen Checkpoint had previously overtaken the single working bakery in the area, meaning residents couldn’t have access to the key food staple in Syria – bread. This liberation means a key food stuff will now be more readily available. Finally, residents can now freely go to the eastern quarter of the city, which they previously couldn’t access because of daily Assad regime shelling.”

Map showing the location of Tafas and Dar’aa city. There is a large military barracks at Tafas’s eastern edge, heading out on the road to Da’il. On Friday, insurgents captured a checkpoint on the Tafas- Da’il road.


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A poem about the insurgents’ winning of the “Battle of Closed Ranks”:

Orient News report about the victory:

150 Killed In Car Bomb In Souq Wadi Barada

The Local Coordination Committees claim that 150 people were killed on Friday in a car bomb in the village of Souq Wadi Barada near Damascus.

The bomb exploded outside The Osama Bin Zeid mosque in the village, northwest of the capital, just before the end of Friday Prayers. It collapsed the entrances of the building.

A witness said, “A second car bomb had been planted but it was discovered and defused before it exploded.”

The regime and the opposition blamed each other for the attack.

The Committee said 174 people were slain in Damascus and its suburbs, 34 in Daraa Province, and 11 each in Deir Ez Zor and Hama Provinces.

The Violations Documentation Center records that 76,725 people have been killed since the start of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 121 since Friday. Of the dead, 57,074 are civilians, a rise of 52 from yesterday.