Syrian government forces are retaking control of the rebel-held part of Deraa, the birthplace of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Troops, accompanied by Russian military police, entered the area and raised the national flag, state media reported.
Rebels there have reportedly agreed to surrender in return for an amnesty or safe passage to the rebel-held north.
The army has recaptured large swathes of Deraa's surrounding province since launching a major offensive on 19 June.
The United Nations says up to 234,000 people remain displaced by the fighting, 70% of whom have sought refuge in neighbouring Quneitra province, near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Tens of thousands of other people who had been sheltering along the border with Jordan have returned to their homes since rebel fighters in the Deraa countryside agreed to lay down their weapons and accept state rule last Friday.
Why is the fall of rebel-held Deraa so significant?
The city has both strategic and symbolic importance. It is a provincial capital and is close to the main crossings on the Jordanian border. It is also where the Syrian uprising began in March 2011.
Pro-democracy protests erupted there after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted anti-government slogans on a school wall, inspired by the “Arab Spring” revolutions in neighbouring countries.
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