SYRIAN government troops stepped up their offensive yesterday to capture the provincial capital of Daraa from al-Qaida-linked Hetesh forces.

Intense artillery and rocket shelling was concentrated near Garz prison and the Refugee Camp area to prepare troops for ground advance, according to a military source.

The source added that Syrian fighter jets were hovering in the skies, delivering “precise” air strikes to aid a quick collapse of rebel groups.

Another army unit attempted to cut off the rebel supply route of Tareq al-Sad-Daraa al-Balad up to the Jordanian border.

The entire Lajat region, which contains 44 villages and towns, was prised from the grip of the jihadists and their Free Syrian Army allies yesterday after a three-day battle.

Jordan, which has supported jihadist opponents of the Syrian government, said its borders would remain closed to any new refugees, urging the United Nations to intervene in southern Syria.

Syria’s goal appears to be regaining control of the border crossing with Jordan, which has been in rebel hands since 2015.

Jihadists have also built up a similar spirit of co-operation with Israel, which has supplied air cover and allowed fighters to cross the border for medical treatment.

Syria's state media reported that two Israeli missiles had struck an area near Damascus International Airport yesterday morning, possibly directed at an Iranian cargo plane.

Eastern Daraa, one of Syria’s last major rebel strongholds, was part of a truce deal agreed last July between the United States, Russia and Jordan.