Ammon News - By Taylor Luck

MAFRAQ/AMMAN (The Jordan Times) — Hundreds of Syrians returned to their country late Wednesday amid rising calls to defend their homeland from foreign forces.

Around 3,000 Syrians left the Zaatari Refugee Camp on Wednesday evening, the largest single group of returnees since the onset of the conflict, according to the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) and camp officials.

The number of Syrians returning to their homeland has risen from some 100 to 400 per day over the past two months, according to officials, pushing the total number of voluntary repatriations over the past year to over 56,000.

Wednesday’s departures came amid rising calls by rebel officials on refugee communities to return to Syria to “defend” their hometowns and villages from a reported growing number of Hizbollah and Iranian fighters sweeping through southern Syria.

Mohammad Al Saad was one of Wednesday’s returnees who claim they aim to join rebel forces upon their arrival in Syria.

“Iranians, Iraqis, Afghans, Hizbollah are all coming to Syria to end the revolution,” said Saad, who enlisted with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigade located in his village of Al Jassem.

“How can we sit on the outside when the entire world is invading our country?”

Many returnees said Hizbollah's arrival in southern Syria last week pushed them to return home before rising international involvement permanently “turns the tide” in the regime’s favour.

“Today the FSA can protect us as and allow us to cross back,” said Mohammed Al Naimi, who returned to his home village of Al Shajarah on Tuesday with his wife and 22-year-old wheelchair-bound son.

“With Iranian and Hizbollah fighters coming to Syria, God only knows what will be left tomorrow.”

Rebel officials claim that some 5,000 fighters and recruits have returned to Syria from Jordan over the past week, a number they expect to “double’ in the next days as Hizbollah fighters continue their push into southern Syria.

”The Syrian people are watching foreign fighters invade their towns and homes and destroy their country,” said Mohammed Al Naimi, an FSA commander who said 200 returnees have joined his brigade near the border village of Sheikh Al Maskin.

"We would all rather return and die defending our homeland than watch it be invaded by foreigners.”

As of late Wednesday, some 8,000 Iranian and Hizbollah fighters had amassed on the outskirts of Daraa, according to rebel officials and local residents, in a bid to besiege the city — one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in southern Syria.

Also, clashes erupted between Hizbollah fighters and FSA forces in the village of Basr As Sham late Wednesday, marking the fourth skirmish between rebel forces and the Lebanese militia this week.

In addition, rebel officials reported heavy shelling in the border villages of Basr Al Harir and Yaduda.

The rising violence drove some 850 Syrians into Jordan early Wednesday, according to the JAF.

Jordan has opened its borders to over 560,000 Syrians since the onset of the conflict in March 2011.