Insurgents in Dar’aa Province made more gains on Friday, capturing a second regime checkpoint near Tafas, north of Dar’aa city.
Citizen journalists report that Free Syrian Army fighters overran the ar-Radi regime checkpoint near Tafas city, killing and wounding several regime soldiers.
The capture of the ar-Radi checkpoint comes after insurgents on Thursday overran the at-Tableen regime checkpoint between Tafas and Da’el (see map below), including by the FSA’s Fallujah Brigade.
Footage of the Fallujah Brigade fighting near the checkpoint:
Earlier this week, footage showed the Fallujah Brigade launching an offensive on the at-Tableen checkpoint, including with anti-tank weapons, possibly Konkurs weapons. It is not clear whether these weapons are captured stocks, older stocks from previous deliveries, or fresh deliveries across the nearby Jordanian border.
Firing on the checkpoint on Thursday:
There are several videos, posted Friday, showing the corpses of regime soldiers around the ar-Tableen checkpoint following its capture, including this (warning — graphic content). Insurgents also reported capturing guns and ammunition from the checkpoint.
The capture of the checkpoint will enable the Free Syrian Army to control the road from Da’el to Tafas, preventing Assad’s forces from bringing in fresh supplies along that route for soldiers fighting inside Tafas and to the military barracks just outside the city.
In response to the capture of the at-Tableen checkpoint, on Friday morning regime warplanes are bombing the area in an attempt to clear the insurgents.
Footage from Friday shows insurgents using 23 mm anti-aircraft guns to target regime planes:
The battle for Tafas — dubbed the Battle Of Unified Ranks by insurgents — has raged for months now, with fighting intensifying in the past weeks, particularly inside the city where insurgents have been besieging a regime barracks. There have been large numbers of casualties, including of two media activists.
The fighting in Tafas is also part of a wider insurgent offensive in Dar’aa Province, including in nearby Dar’aa city to the south, where insurgents have captured the Dar’aa-Ramtha border crossing to Jordan, a significant gain as it will open routes for arms to be transported from Jordan to the insurgency.
