First big Syrian rebel tank, artillery attack on southern army position
The Syrian civil war took a dramatic turn in the South Saturday with the first major rebel attack with tanks and artillery. It was staged against the important Syrian army Tel Jam’a position in Deraa, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. This was the first time in the more than three-year war that the rebels had fielded a large, well-ordered force armed with tanks and heavy 120mm mortars. Tel Jam’a commands the Deraa-Damascus and Deraa-Quneitra highways. The rebels’ takeover of this key Syrian army post would enable them to cut the Syrian 60th Brigade off from its supply bases and reinforcements.