MESOP News Roundup: Thursday, November 20 / Quneitra rebels intensify campaign against Baath city

Rebels including Jabhat a-Nusra assaulted regime positions in and around the city of Baath Wednesday as part of the “Victory from God and an Imminent Conquest” campaign, eliminating the regime’s first line of defense in the city, reported pro-opposition Sheikh Miskeen al-Hadath news.

Rebels also captured three buildings and destroyed the Baath city tower.
For its part, pro-regime newspaper Al-Watan reported Wednesday that “army and national defense units prevented terrorists’ attempts to infiltrate Baath city and Khan Arnaba, and dealt them heavy losses in personnel and equipment.”  Rebels including the Fajr a-Tawheed and Fath a-Sham operations rooms, Jabhat a-Nusra and other FSA brigades announced the “Victory from God and an Imminent Conquest” campaign in a video uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday. The campaign aims to rid Quneitra of regime forces by taking Baath and Khan Arnaba, and then to open a path northeast towards Damascus.
In related news, regime warplanes struck the towns of Saida, Maarba and al-Hara in the Daraa countryside Wednesday, resulting in at least nine deaths in al-Hara including four children, reported pro-opposition news agency Syria Mubasher.