Ceasefire in Syria’s Daraa enters into force

DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Representatives of the government forces and the central committees in Daraa, under the auspices of the Russian military police, began on Wednesday to implement the terms of the agreement reached on Tuesday.

Local sources told North Press that Russian forces and members of the Eighth Brigade of the Fifth Corps entered Daraa al-Balad and the besieged neighborhoods on Wednesday morning to implement the terms of the agreement.

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 sources added that a settlement center was opened in Daraa al-Balad, and government forces began settling the situation of 34 residents of Daraa with the delivery of a number of light weapons, in the presence of Major General Hossam Louqa, head of the security committee of the government forces.

The sources indicated that members of pro-Iranian factions withdrew from military points they established during their siege of Daraa’s neighborhoods (Daraa al-Balad neighborhood, Tariq al-Sad, and the camps).

On Tuesday, governmental military parties and dignitaries and committees in the city of Daraa, southern Syria, agreed to carry out a Russian-sponsored ceasefire, along with implementing the terms of a previous agreement that included settlements and displacement.

The agreement included handing over weapons, making settlements, and displacing those who are not covered by the settlements, according to a source attended the meeting preferred not to be named.

The agreement also stipulated reducing the number of government checkpoints to three instead of nine.

The source added that the three checkpoints in the neighborhoods of Daraa al-Balad, Tariq al-Sadd and the camps will be shared between the Military Security of the government forces and the Eighth Brigade of the Russian-backed Fifth Corps. 

The source pointed out that the terms will be carried on Wednesday, where a settlement center will be opened, the Military Police of the government forces will intervene, and the Syrian and Russian flags will be raised in Daraa al-Balad.

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 months.

Reporting by Ihsan Mohammed