No military option for Syria’s Quneitra countryside
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, an agreement was reached between the independent Central Committees in both Daraa and Quneitra and officers from the Syrian government. The agreement stipulated the ruling out of a military option for the town of Umm Batnah in the countryside of Quneitra, private sources told North Press.
This came after officers from the Syrian government threatened to storm the town if ten wanted people, along with those wishing to go to north Syria with their families, were not expelled.
It was agreed, according to the source, that the people wanted by the government would accept the option of exile to north Syria in exchange for the release of two detainees from the town held by the government forces.
The government agreed to release them, and the agreement stipulated that the ten wanted men and twenty other people would be deported to north Syria next Thursday, according to the source.
During the past days, negotiations took place in the city of Daraa al-Mahatta and the Sa’asa region, to stop the tension and military escalation on the town of Umm Batnah, and government forces threatened to storm the town within a few days if the handover or displacement of the wanted people were not completed.
The source added: “The Central Committee for Negotiation in Daraa and Quneitra is in contact with the Russians to pressure the Syrian government in Quneitra to stop the displacement process, because it opens the door for displacement again in the southern region.”
Since Thursday, the town of Umm Batnah has been witnessing a state of tension and displacement after government forces brought in military reinforcements that settled on the outskirts of the town.
At the beginning of May, tension began in the town of Umm Batnah after an armed attack on a military post of government forces at Tel Kro Jaba, after which the government forces bombed the town with five mortar shells.
This displacement process has been ongoing in the Quneitra governorate since government forces took control of the area in July 2018.