Story highlights Rebels say Russian air support is giving regime troops an advantage

Top commander blames international community for not intervening

(CNN) Under Russian air cover, regime troops are not only advancing in northern Syria, they have been making gains in the south too.

After weeks of raging battles, late last month, rebel fighters were forced to withdraw from Al Sheikh Maskin, a small but strategic town in the Daraa province. Regime troops now control the crucial town, which lies on a military supply route from Damascus to the south.

In an interview with CNN in Jordan, Bashar al-Zouabi, a top rebel commander on the southern front, says the Free Syrian Army (FSA) were able to confront regime forces and their Iranian, Lebanese and Afghan militias on the ground. But without the anti-aircraft weapons they have been requesting, they were not able to withstand the Russian air campaign and were forced to withdraw.

"The international community (with its silence) gave Russia the green light to kill the Syrian people as it pleases," says al-Zouabi.

The fighting and bombardment in the south continues and earlier this month, the Free Syrian Army gave up the town of Athman.

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