U.S. coalition airstrikes aid rebels’ move on Damascus

ISTANBUL – Rebel groups based in southern Syria are advancing on the western suburbs of Damascus and warning they might soon enter the capital, a development that’s in sharp contrast to the grim reports from northern Syria, where moderate rebels have suffered setbacks from the government and radical Islamists.

The advance by the so-called Southern Front also stands apart from the situation in the north because moderate rebels still appear to be the dominant opposition force in the south, eclipsing al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in planning and executing military advances.

Further, Southern Front commanders credit airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition with helping their cause, primarily by keeping Islamic State fighters from moving against them. “If it weren’t for the coalition strikes, Daash would have reached our areas,” Abul Majd, a spokesman for the Southern Front, said via Skype, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. “Thanks to these strikes, we are focusing now on the regime, our main enemy.”

In contrast, commanders in the north have complained that they have benefited little from the strikes on the Islamic State, and they even accuse the United States of undercutting support for the rebels with airstrikes aimed at Nusra and the so-called Khorasan Group, which the U.S. says consists of al-Qaida members plotting attacks on Western targets from Syria.

Friday, another Southern Front leader, Gen. Assad al Zubi, told Damascus residents via opposition Orient TV that the day of the “big victory” is close. In his statement, he warned that the government likely was to crack down hard as rebel forces drew near and Damascus residents should expect to receive instructions in the coming days in the form of pamphlets distributed by civil activists working with the rebels.

Zubi’s statement came as an estimated 38,000 rebel fighters, including 54 different brigades that fight under the Free Syrian Army name, have achieved their most significant victories since the Southern Front was announced in February.

Closing on the capital is hardly a sure thing, however. The government has major army divisions in the area, though rebels say they hope that morale is low among government troops and they’ll flee when rebel forces arrive.