DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syrian forces and their allies have made progress in southwestern Syria and have come closer to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as opposition fighters have refused to return to state rule on buses to take them to an area controlled by the opposition in the north, Syrian television and opposition fighters said yesterday.
The army is advancing Russian air support to the outskirts of Quneitra province, after a campaign launched last month and drove out opposition fighters from the neighboring province of Daraa.
The attack reinstated the control of the Syrian government over a sector of southwestern Syria, in a strategic area along the borders of Jordan and Israel.
The army announced yesterday its control of a number of villages in the area between the two provinces, while resumed the evacuation of opposition fighters and their families for the second day of villages on the border of the Golan to a region in northern Syria under the control of the opposition.
The army controls a series of important highlands overlooking the border with Israel's Golan Heights, points that the mainly opposition fighters once controlled had a strong position in the sensitive border area.
Opposition fighters say an agreement negotiated by Russian officers with the opposition in the Kenitra region last week allows safe passage for fighters who refuse to return to state sovereignty and gives those who choose to stay Russian guarantees that there will be no abuses by the army.
The agreement also allows for the return of the Syrian army units, which existed before the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, to areas that are located near the demilitarized zone agreed in 1974 with Israel and located on the border with the occupied part of the Golan Heights.
More than 2,500 people left the area on Friday, including fighters who rejected the deal and headed to areas controlled by the opposition in the north.
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted the Russian army as saying that buses had transferred the same number to the Idlib area.
The Syrian army wants full control of Quneitra, while Israel has deep concerns about the presence of Iranian-backed fighters in the so-called triangle of death. Western intelligence sources said the area was a stronghold of fighters backed by Iran, including Hezbollah militias.
Israel indicated that it would not impede the presence of the Syrian army in Quneitra as long as it remained far from the demilitarized zone. It said it would continue to step up attacks on its borders and other parts of Syria that believe it is concentrating troops backed by Iran.