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Syria reasserts control of borders with Jordan and Israel

The Syrian army has successfully secured its country’s triangle border with both Jordan and Israel, after it routed out the Islamic State. This triangle is located in the far western countryside of Syria’s southern province of Dara’a, the birthplace of the Syrian war, which was recently recaptured by the Syrian army. During the years-long conflict, the Syrian army lost nearly all of the country’s border points, except for a crossing with Lebanon – which was held by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Nevertheless, after seven years of failed attempts to recapture its lost territory, a wide-scale campaign that started in late June in Dara’a and nearby rebel-held areas, the Syrian government forces, with the backing of Russian air support, have succeeded in restoring all border points with Jordan and the Israeli side of the Golan Heights.

This achievement is considered as an important victory for the Syrian army and a key step toward ending the Syrian war. That said, while the success of controlling the borders indicates the pending victory of President Bashar Assad, the Syrian army continues to battle the Islamic State in the war-torn-country’s desert region, in the eastern countryside of Sweida, where Assad’s forces are reportedly making progress in the fight against the remaining pockets of territory still under the control of extreme Muslim group, IS.