Thousands flee as Syrian military extends assault

• Rebels say US told them not to expect any military support during strikes

Government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on Deraa city for the first time in nearly a year yesterday, a rebel and a war monitor said, extending an assault in southwest Syria which has driven thousands from their homes.

Along with the barrels crammed with explosives, the helicopters dropped leaflets saying the army was coming and urging people to "kick out the terrorists as your brothers did in eastern Ghouta", the sources said.

"My wife and I left with only the clothes on our backs, because the house was completely destroyed," Muhammad Abu Qasim, 45, told Reuters. Heavy bombing had turned his village northeast of Deraa into "an unbearable hell".

The region is politically sensitive because of its proximity to Israel and Jordan and because of a "de-escalation" deal there agreed between the United States, Jordan and Syrian government ally Russia.

Washington had warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies that violations of the ceasefire would prompt a response, but rebels said the United States had told them not to expect any American military support.

The fighting has displaced thousands of people and threatens to uproot many more from their homes, adding to the around 6.5 million people already internally displaced by Syria's seven-year-old conflict.

After fleeing her home many times since the start of war, 30-year-old widow Um Muhammad has once again been forced to move with her three children, and is now sheltering in a school deeper inside rebel territory in southwest Syria.

"Each of us took only our clothes. Right now there's bombardment everywhere," she told Reuters.

In Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by RIA news agency as saying Russian officials hoped to discuss southwest Syria with US National Security Adviser John Bolton soon, and separately with Jordan.