Meeting between dignitaries and government in Syria’s Daraa fails, shelling renews
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, a meeting, which was held between dignitaries and representatives of the government forces mediated by Russia, in the city of Daraa, southern Syria, ended without reaching an agreement.
The meeting included dignitaries in Daraa and Horan in general, after the Central Committee in Daraa al-Balad announced, yesterday, the collapse of negotiations, while the representatives of the government forces were headed by Major General Hussam Louqa, head of the government security committee in Daraa.
A source, who attended the meeting, told North Press that the negotiations held today were failed “due to the intransigence of the government forces and the imposition of impossible conditions rejected by the people of Daraa governorate.”
He added that the government forces requested the handover of light weapons, the displacement of 70 people towards northern Syria, and the establishment of nine military points in Daraa al-Balad, Tariq al-Sadd and the camps, without specifying the type and size of these points.
The source revealed that the dignitaries of Daraa requested the entry of the forces of the Eighth Brigade of the Russian-backed Fifth Corps to Daraa al-Balad and to place points there instead of the government forces, “but the matter was rejected by both the Russians and the government forces.”
“The government forces have no intention of any peaceful solution, but to impose a military solution, and they gave a deadline until tomorrow, Tuesday, to implement all conditions or continue the military campaign and enter Daraa al-Balad and the besieged neighborhoods by force,” the source noted.
In the same context, the spokesman for the Central Committee, Adnan al-Masalma, posted a message on his official Facebook, demanding the people of Daraa to get ready for defending the besieged neighborhoods.
“The negotiations collapsed as a result of the continuous intransigence and the impossible demands of the regime,” al-Masalma said.
“The bombing and destruction became insane, where all kinds of heavy weapons are used, which led to the destruction of the homes of safe civilians, mosques and minarets,” he added.
Despite the announcement of a ceasefire by Russian military police and holding negotiations that reached no progress, government forces and Iranian-backed factions have been shelling the besieged neighborhoods of Daraa for more than two months.
The Syrian government forces and the Iranian-backed factions have been besieging the Daraa al-Balad and other neighborhoods and closing all roads leading to them for more than two month.
On the ground, two people were killed today, on Monday, due to a bombing by the Iranian-backed factions on the besieged residential neighborhoods in Daraa.
A local source in Daraa al-Balad told North Press that Abdelnasser Ali al-Qutayfan, 29, and Muhammad Mutlaq al-Aql al-Mahamid, 35, were killed in the bombing of the besieged residential neighborhoods by the Iranian-backed factions.
He added that the al-Mansour Mosque in the al-Bahar neighborhood of Daraa al-Balad was targeted with a missile, which led to its almost complete destruction.
The source pointed out that the Iranian-backed factions tried to storm Daraa al-Balad, Tariq al-Sadd neighborhood and the camps from the axis of al-Bedou and al-Bahar neighborhoods, but they were met by the resistance of local armed men.
For its part, the government news agency, SANA, reported that the government forces targeted “the points from which the terrorists’ shells are launched in the Daraa al-Balad neighborhood with concentrated strikes by rocket launchers and artillery shells.”
It added that four government soldiers were killed and 15 others were wounded while “targeting army’s points, checkpoints and residential neighborhoods.”