The Southern Front rebel group declared general mobilization on Saturday as pro-regime forces make advances in the country’s south, taking control of key towns.
The statement, issued by General Commander Col. Saber Safar, called on all rebel groups in Daraa to send reinforcements to the north of the city, urging the targeting of all regime bases to achieve military parity.
Regime forces wrested back control over the village of Habariyeh, killing fighters of the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, Xinhua quoted an anonymous source as saying.
Pro-Assad troops have also moved closer to the strategic hilltop of Tal al-Hara, where rebels stormed a Syrian military observatory late last year, the source added.
Friday's achievement was part of a preemptive offensive pro-regime forces have recently waged in a strategic triangle in Syria’s south, namely in the countryside of Damascus, Daraa and the province of Quneitra.
Rebel sources said on Friday that the FSA’s First Army fighters had thwarted a regime attack on al-Sultaneh village.
The First Army, operating under the Southern Front, posted photos online purportedly showing slain Shiite militants who were killed in fighting near al-Sultaneh and al-Habbariya villages in Quneitra province.
The Southern Front said its rebels had ambushed the Shiite fighters near al-Sultaneh village, leaving dozens killed and wounded.
Meanwhile, state news agency SANA claims regime troops eliminated the "last remaining gatherings" of rebels in the town of Tal Majda in the countryside of the southern province of Suwaida, near the Jordanian borders.
Controlling Tal Majda will enable the Syrian army to expose rebel supply lines via Jordan, said SANA, adding that the border between Jordan and Syria is witnessing various infiltration attempts by foreign jihadis, who are aiming to join rebel groups.
Reports claim that Iranian troops backed by Hezbollah fighters have carried on, fighting against rebels without participation from the Syrian army.
