Final settlements between central committees and government forces in Syria’s Daraa
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, the central committees and the Syrian government forces reached a final agreement to end the security and military tension in the western countryside of Daraa, southern Syria, with Russian mediation.
A local source from the city of Daraa told North Press that the armed groups of the central committees met with government forces in the presence of Russians in Daraa on Tuesday evening, and that they reached a consensus.
The agreement includes allowing government forces to enter the farms of the town of Tafas and inspect them in the presence of locals, in order to prevent any violations that may affect the population.
The agreement also stipulated that the government forces would abandon their condition of deporting the groups’ leaders to northwestern Syria, in exchange for the latter’s pledge to stop their attacks against government forces.
The agreement also mandated that the armed groups in Tafas will hand over 14 mm anti-aircraft weapons and the government headquarters to the Syrian government forces.
In return, the government forces pledge not to take any military action against the cities and towns of the western countryside of Daraa.
A government military source from Daraa told North Press that the agreement was made in the presence of the Russians, who stressed the need not to violate it.
On the sidelines of the agreement, the central committees called on the Syrian government to release all detainees from Daraa who have been arrested since 2011, according to the source.
However, the agreement includes only the strongholds of the local anti-government groups in Tafas and the neighboring towns in the western countryside of Daraa, but not all the armed groups, according to the government source.
Since January 23, government forces began to mobilize militarily and threatened to raid Tafas.
Earlier, the government forces brought military reinforcements from the 33rd Brigade, including tanks and infantry, to the western countryside of Daraa.
For a month and a half, the western countryside of Daraa has witnessed a state of security and military escalation between local groups and government forces.
The central committee in Daraa consists of anti-government activists, lawyers, sheikhs, and former opposition leaders who engaged in Russian-brokered reconciliations with the Syrian government in 2018.
The government forces have controlled the Daraa and Quneitra governorates since July 2018, through settlement agreements imposed by the Russians on the opposition groups.