Syrian government besieges Daraa, recruits its youth
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Ahrar Houran Gathering website stated earloer that the security office of the Fourth Division of the Syrian government forces in the Lajat area, east of Daraa governorate, is working to recruit young men from the area to work for it.
About 550 young men were recruited from the Lajat area, the website added.
The website pointed out that the first batch of volunteer recruits will set off during the next few days to the Division’s centers in the capital Damascus to receive training.
The recruiters, according to Ahrar Houran Gathering, resort to “presenting several offers to young men, most notably the security card that enables its owner to cross through military checkpoints without being checked, in addition to a monthly financial sum of up to 100,000 Syrian pounds under a six-month contract.”
The recruitment process comes along with the siege imposed by government forces on Daraa al-Balad for 17 days, where all main roads leading to the city center have been closed.
The siege came due to the refusal of the Central Committee in Daraa, which is responsible for the negotiations with the Russians and the government, of the request of Russian officer of Chechen origin Assad Allah to hand over the individual weapons in Daraa al-Balad in exchange for the removal of local factions linked to military security from the neighborhoods of Manshiyya, Sajna and Old Customs.
The rejection of the Russian request led to the suspension of negotiations with the Russian side, which led to a siege on Daraa al-Balad through closing the main roads leading to the center of Daraa city.
Following this, on the twenty-fifth of June, the government forces brought in military reinforcements from several points surrounding the city of Daraa and set up berms in the vicinity of several military checkpoints.
It has also prevented the entry of food and medical supplies to about 11,000 families in the besieged area since June.
Only one outlet has remained in Daraa al-Balad, which is the Sajna neighborhood Road, which is under the control of the forces of the 15th Division in the government, in addition to local factions affiliated with the Military Security Branch, most of whose members were formerly the opposition factions’ members before the “settlement” process took place in July 2018.
On June 27, various central and civil committees in Daraa called on both Russia and the government to lift the siege.
The punishment is a repudiation of the Russian side, the guarantor of the settlement agreement, and a violation of the relevant international resolutions, the committees said.
Early in July, the government forces imposed a siege on Daraa al-Balad, after they closed the silos road that connects the area to the eastern countryside of the city.
“The punitive measures imposed by the Assad regime in Daraa are due to the rejection of Daraa’s people of the regime’s presidential elections being held in Daraa,” said Adnan al-Masalma, a member of the central committee in Daraa.
He also stated that the Russian demands aim at destabilizing the governorate and they are “an attempt to defeat the will of the residents of the region.”