SUWAYDA, Syria (North Press) – An attack took place in the town ofQuryyah last week by gunmen affiliated with the Syrian government’s Russian-backed Fifth Corps, with the attack evolving into a clash resulting in deaths and injuries from both sides.
Russians simply watched the scene and and listened to positions and reactions of Sheikhs Akl from the Druze religious minority, according to a source from the Media Coordination Office between the Russians and the Syrian government.
Russian officers from the Hmemim operations room contacted Sheikhs Akl and the Men of Dignity Druze militia and heads of the Eighth Brigade of the Fifth Corps and asked them to practice self-control and settle the situation, the source added.
“Russian officials stressed the necessity of not intensifying the military actions in Suwayda and Daraa. In turn, they promised to take measures that could stop fighting and find solutions that suited all parties in Quryyah and Busra al-Sham.”
Sheikhs Akl and heads of local groups are waiting for those Russian promises, which stipulate that the Eighth Brigade will withdraw to its headquarters in Busra al-Sham and the administrative areas of Daraa Governorate.
“Pro-government points that were close to the clashes were ordered not to interfere between the two parties to the conflict or to support any party,” a military source from the Syrian government said.
“The Syrian government should have had responded to any military action in the southern Syria,” the source confirmed.
“It is necessary to support Quryyah town and retake all lands and farms that the Eighth Brigade seized,” Salman Rashid, a head of the Men of Dignity group, stressed.
“Men of Dignity and its affiliated local groups should not be silent over any attack on any area in the province,” he added.
The frontlines south of Quryyah have been witnessing relative calm after two days of clashes, causing 12 deaths and about 62 injuries from among the local groups’ members.
No information has been reported regarding an accurate number of casualties in the ranks of the Eighth Brigade of the Fifth Corps.
“The conflict in south Suwayda is volatile; it is a part of a regional agenda and not mere an incident,” Mohib Salha, a politician residing in Suwayda, said.
“The conflict that was taking place between the Russian-backed Fifth corps and the pro-government National Defence and groups represents Russian-Iranian conflict over seizing Syria’s south through fuelling people of Suwayda and Daraa,” Salha added.
Decentralized administration is the only way to solve the crisis, he added.
“Indigenous people of the regions in Syria have the right to rule their areas and invest the resources within the united sovereign Syria, and the centralized government of the country has the right of the sovereign portfolios such as defense and foreign affairs within the decentralized Administration,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Yahya Hajjar, head of the Men of Dignity, called on Russians to withdraw the Fifth Corps and remove the berms west of Quryyah.
“There are regional parties that fuel the conflict between the plain (Daraa) and mountain (Suwayda),” Ahmad Awda, head of the Eighth Brigade, said on Friday.
Awda accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah of supporting and arming pro-Hezbollah groups such as the National Defense group in order to instigate some local groups in Suwayda into fighting between Daraa and Suwayda.