Assad Launches Offensive In South

The Syrian Army has launched a major offensive against U.S.-backed rebels in the south.

Opposition sources said the Syrian Army has joined Hizbullah and other Iranian-backed forces for attacks on rebel strongholds in the southern provinces of Dera and Quneitra. They said the regime of President Bashar Assad achieved significant gains over the last two days.

“It is a very big operation,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In a statement on Feb. 10, Syrian Observatory said the Assad offensive was meant to drive rebels from Dera city to Quneitra, near the Israeli frontier. The opposition group said Hizbullah was playing a major role in the operation.

The Syrian Army offensive followed a rebel drive to expel regime strongholds along the southern border with Jordan. A key rebel target, now under army attack, was Sheik Miskin, located near the highway to Damascus. Sheik Miskin has been deemed a waystation for U.S.-trained rebels and supplies from Jordan.

So far, several rebel-held towns have been captured by the Syrian Army. They were identified as Dir Al Adas, Dir Makr and Denaji, the latter which borders the Quneitra province.

“Clashes taking place in Dir Al Adas between regime forces backed by Hizbullah and Iranian fighters against Islamic battalions,” Syrian Observatory said.

U.S. Prepares For Iraq Offensive

The United States, which long warned that the Iraq Army would need years of training, plans a major ground offensive against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant in early 2015.

A senior official said the Iraq Army could begin a major offensive against ISIL over the next few weeks. The assertion by Gen. John Allen, responsible for the U.S.-led coalition against ISIL, prompted a denial by the administration of President Barack Obama.

“And in the weeks ahead, when the Iraqi forces begin the ground campaign to take back Iraq, the coalition will provide major firepower associated with that,” Allen told Jordan’s official Petra News Agency on Feb. 8.

This marked the first time that Washington reported an imminent ground offensive by Baghdad against ISIL. For the last few months, U.S. officials warned that the army could require years of training until it was ready for such an operation.

Allen spoke in wake of a meeting of more than 20 coalition partners in Kuwait on Feb. 3-4 to discuss the next step in the war against ISIL. The administration has been under pressure by Congress to organize ground forces against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

“We continue to broaden our collective views of the mission and maintain the tremendous collaboration we’ve shared to date,” U.S. Army Lt. Gen. James Terry, the commander of the task force against ISIL, said.

A day after Allen’s statement, the State Department denied that the Iraq Army was ready for an offensive against ISIL. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, however, confirmed that Washington was coordinating with Arab partners and Iraqi security forces to prepare for combat operations.

“So the Arab component will be in action supporting Iraqi security forces,” Ms. Psaki said. “We support their efforts. They would be in the lead. We want them to be prepared. I don’t have any other predictions beyond that.”

So far, Iraqi forces, including militias trained and equipped by Iran, were conducting operations in the provinces of Baghdad, Diyala and Salah Eddin. But officials acknowledged that the attacks have not significantly hampered ISIL.

On Feb. 9, Allen did not repeat his disclosure of an imminent Iraqi offensive. Instead, the general, in an interview with the U.S. television network ABC News, warned that ISIL would be difficult to defeat.

“It is at an entirely different level than Al Qaida was,” Allen said. “[ISIL is] better organized than Al Qaida. Its command and control is better. We should take it very seriously.”