Southern Syria in a sentence

They told Reuters the aerial interceptions shot down dozens of missiles and drones fired by Iran that flew above southern Syria in the Deraa province, the Syrian Golan Heights and several locations in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq.

Bolton added the effort will not be a complete withdrawal, but will rather focus on northeastern Syria where most of the estimated 2,000 troops are located while leaving some in southern Syria.

The only exception, it appeared, is a group of perhaps 200 US troops who will remain at a base in southern Syria near the Jordanian border, working with opposition forces unrelated to the Kurdish-led fighters in northern Syria.

But setting the Iran deal aside, President Obama was also not interested in getting the U.S. militarily involved in Syria in any real way, which meant not doing much to counter Iran’s growing entrenchment in southern Syria across from Israel’s border.

Does he want to get Iran’s forces out of Syria, or at least out of southern Syria near Israel?

In another show of force, the Pentagon launched a surprise exercise in southern Syria on Friday after Russia military action in an area of Syria where U.S. troops are located.

But an array of other drone attacks over the past three days did target U.S. bases, including one in southern Syria on Thursday that caused minor injuries.

On Saturday night, the Israeli military said its forces had helped rebuff “armed individuals” who attacked a United Nations observation post near Hader in southern Syria.

They have begun to exert pressure in various ways and directions on the people of the province, who oppose the Iranian presence in southern Syria.

The sanctions came a day after intense clashes in southern Syria broke out between Russia-backed Syrian troops and local fighters who belong to the minority Druze sect, killing and wounding dozens.

The Syrian defence ministry said on Thursday it had intercepted Israeli missiles over Damascus that were fired at military targets in southern Syria.

That signaled that US troops may remain in Manbij, along the Euphrates River and at the strategic bastion of Al-Tanf in Southern Syria near the Jordanian, Iraqi and Israeli Golan frontiers.

The US military outpost al-Tanf in southern Syria, October 22, 2018.

While the “Iranians have been following the same program in southern Syria for years, now they're trying to secure and resecure their gains,” Smyth said.

At the start of July, according to media reports, a blast rocked an arms depot belonging to an Iran-backed militia in Daraa, in southern Syria, where the Assad regime is involved in a major push to retake the area from Sunni rebel groups.

For this reason, Iran may have been willing to agree not to participate in battles in southern Syria, on the condition that Israel will not participate at all in combat in the region.

Head of the IDF’s 210th Bashan Division Brig. Gen. Amit Fisher speaks to the IDF chief of staff and other top officers on the fighting in southern Syria, showing them a map of the area, during a briefing along the Syrian border on July 4, 2018.

Jordan's government has closed its border to refugees fleeing the war in southern Syria, instead launching a national aid drive to help those trapped.

Tel Aviv has been vocally upset with the growing Iranian presence in southern Syria, saying that unless the Russians intervene to end it, they will have take matters into their own hands.

This is how they got southern Syria on a silver platter.