Syria Withdraws From South To Reinforce Defense

(AP) – The Syrian army has withdrawn from much of southern Syria, leaving more areas of the country, including two provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The redeployment away from the provinces of Daraa and Sweida came as Syria’s military sent large numbers of reinforcements to defend the key central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as insurgents approached its outskirts. The rapid advances by insurgents is a stunning reversal of fortunes for Syria’s President Bashar Assad, who appears to be largely on his own, with erstwhile allies preoccupied with other conflicts. A wide offensive led by the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, began on Nov. 27.