DAMASCUS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army has reached 3 km from the Nasib border crossing with Jordan after capturing several border points on the Syrian-Jordanian border in Daraa province in southern Syria, a monitor group reported on Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army is advancing in border areas in Daraa countryside, adding that the army has controlled over 69 percent of Daraa province as part of the wide-scale offensive that has been dragging on since two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the War Media, the media wing of the Syrian army, said the Syrian army has captured most of the towns and villages in the eastern countryside of Daraa.
This came as the towns of Busra al-Sham, Marba, Jimreen, Kharba, Jbaib and Ghusum have agreed to reconcile with the Syrian government forces without fightings.
It said the army could also claim control over Nasib crossing, the only operational border crossing between Syria and Jordan, in the next hours. The government forces lost control over Nasib to the rebels in 2015.
It's worth mentioning that the Syrian army has been following the tactic of military operations in tandem with offers of reconciliation.
The army captured areas by force and entered other areas through the Russia-backed reconciliations. Such reconciliations demanded the rebels to hand over their heavy weapons.
While these reconciliations have been ongoing in tandem with the fight in other areas against ultra-radical groups in Daraa, the Russian side continued the negotiations with the rebels to reach a broader deal to settle the situation in Daraa.
Meanwhile, activists said that the rebel factions in southern Syria said they reached a deal with Russia on Friday to hand over their weapons in batches and also the Nasib crossing to the Syrian side.
According to the deal, which has not yet been declared by the Syrian government, the Russian military police will be deployed in areas near the borders with Jordan.
This came as activists said Russian tanks have reached the Nasib border crossing.
Activists, however, said that the deal covers the eastern countryside of Daraa, not the western one or the nearby areas in the countryside of Quneitra province in southern Syria.
The activists said the deal reached Friday will be proposed to the rebels in the western countryside of Daraa and the countryside of Quneitra.
As the negations were ongoing, Saudi-funded Alarabiya TV said a ceasefire was observed in Daraa.
Xinhua photographer in Daraa said that the situation has been calm in eastern Daraa over the past few hours, with no official confirmation.
Another Dara-based reporter told Xinhua that the ceasefire is applied in areas that witnessed reconciliation.
Amid the progress of the army, either through military action or reconciliations, the UN refugee agency on Thursday urged Jordan to open the border for those fleeing the battles in Daraa.
The UNHCR refugee agency said the total number of the displaced now reached more than 320,000, with 60,000 gathered at the border crossing with Jordan.
Daraa has a symbolic significance as it was the birthplace of the Syrian war that erupted in 2011, and securing it will be a big victory for the Syrian army both symbolically and militarily as the rebels have used the Jordanian border to bring in arms and fighters throughout the war.
