DAMASCUS, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army made important progress in the battles against the rebels in the southern province of Daraa on Tuesday.
The army captured the al-Lajat area in the northeastern countryside of Daraa, and the town of Busr al-Harir in the eastern countryside, local media reported.
Capturing Busr al-Harir has enabled the Syrian army to link areas under its control in eastern Daraa with areas in the western countryside of the nearby Sweida province.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said this victory came after "hundreds of Russian airstrikes" targeted rebel-held areas in Daraa.
Since starting the military operations in the south last week, the Syrian army has been focusing on recapturing the Busr al-Harir area due to its logistical significance.
The town lies in the middle between government-controlled areas in the adjacent Sweida province and the government-held ones in Daraa.
Capturing Busr al-Harir also enables the army to lay a siege on several areas in the northeastern countryside of Daraa, particularly after also capturing al-Lajat.
This approach is called the "nibbling tactic", which the army uses to cut through rebel-held areas to isolate them from one another to facilitate the storming on them in a later stage.
Meanwhile, state news agency SANA said the army started to provide fire cover for the advance of the armed forces in the southeastern sector of Daraa.
It added that the forces are fighting to cut the supply routes of the rebels between Daraa and the Jordanian border.
The militants of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in Daraa are preventing the reconciliation attempts between the government forces and other rebel groups through launching suicide attacks on the Syrian military posts in Daraa, SANA reported.
The battles in southern Syria also include areas in the countryside of Sweida province, and the Quneitra province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Syrian army has been preparing for operations to liberate Daraa, Sweida, and Quneitra in southern Syria, after fully securing the capital Damascus and its suburbs over the past few months.
But the situation is complex, as the areas in southern Syria such as the Daraa province, near Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, are included in the de-escalation zones under an internationally-backed ceasefire agreement.
However, the Islamic State (IS) group still holds some pockets in Sweida and has allied militant groups in Daraa, which links Damascus to the Jordanian border.
Earlier in the day, the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria reportedly declared ending the de-escalation zones' agreement in southern Syria, citing "attacks" by rebels on Syrian sites.
The pro-government al-Watan newspaper said the Russian warplanes were providing aerial cover for the Syrian army in their push to dislodge the rebels from Daraa.
On Monday, the Syrian army pledged to protect civilians during its offensive in the south.
The Syrian army said in a statement that it is committed to protecting the civilians from the "crimes" of the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front in the rebel-held areas in southern Syria.
It charged that the ultra-radical groups are targeting civilians, and military positions while blocking the government's efforts to reach reconciliation with the rebel groups which want to cooperate with the government.
The army, meanwhile, stressed its determination to confront the Nusra Front in cooperation with the citizens in the Daraa and Sweida provinces.
It vowed to recapture all the rebel-held areas, as the military operations in Daraa and Sweida have caused "a state of confusion and collapse" among the rebels.
