Syria: Deadly clashes in Daraa kill 16

A war monitor said that 13 combatants and three civilians were killed on Thursday in Syria's southern province of Daraa. The clashes were fiercest since the area came under regime control. 

Russian backed Syrian army had recaptured Daraa from rebels in 2018. This was a symbolic blow to anti-government uprising uprising.

State institutions have returned, but the army still hasn't deployed across the whole province, and tit-for-tat bombings and assassinations between former opposition figures and regime forces have since become routine. 

Tensions flared on Thursday, leading to what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called the "most violent and broadest clashes in Daraa since it came under regime control".

Regime forces fired artillery shells towards Daraa al-Balad. There was also a ground push.

The gunmen launched a counterattack across many parts of the Daraa countryside where they seized several regime positions. They also captured regime fighters.

"Eight Syrian regime and allied militia fighters died during clashes across Daraa province in recent hours," the Observatory said.

"Gunmen also captured more than 40 members of the regime forces" in Daraa's western and eastern countryside, it said.

According to the Observatory, artillery fire from regime forces in several areas killed five gunmen and three civilians, including a mother and her child. 

Many former rebels stayed in Daraa instead of evacuating under a Moscow-brokered deal, either joining the army or remaining in control of parts of the province.