Government forces give residents in Daraa countryside deadline to handover weapons
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces gave the residents of the town of al-Hirak, in the eastern countryside of Daraa, southern Syria, until Friday evening, to hand over the wanted people before storming the city.
Local sources told North Press that the government’s security forces gave the residents until 6 pm on Friday, to implement their demands of handing over a large number of light weapons.
The government forces are asking the residents to hand over 200 light weapons, while the residents deny the existence of this number, according to the sources.
The sources reported that the residents had earlier handed over the light weapons they had, amounting to 104.
A member of the negotiating committee of al-Hirak town, spoke on condition of anonymity, that the residents will hold a meeting after Friday prayers in order to decide the mechanism for responding to government forces.
He added that each family of the city’s residents had previously paid 20,000 SYP to buy the weapons that were handed over to the government forces.
He pointed out that if they agreed on the amount of weapons requested by government forces , each family had to pay 25,000 SYP.
The Syrian government forces targeted the outskirts of the al-Hirak with number of luminous missiles, and targeted Izra’-Hirak Road with anti-craft to put pressure on the residents and accept their conditions.
On October 20, the government forces tightened the siege on the town of al-Hirak, preventing residents from leaving or entering it.
These steps come as a continuation of the agreement held in early September between the Central Committee and the government forces brokered by Russia.
On September 5, a number of Daraa’s notables and government forces, in the presence of a number of Russian officers, reached a ceasefire agreement, including handing over weapons and deploying governmental security points in the towns of Daraa governorate.
Daraa was subjected to a suffocating siege imposed by Iranian-backed factions and the government forces for more than two months. Finally, an agreement was reached between the parties to the conflict brokered by Russia on a ceasefire and the entry of government forces into the besieged neighborhoods.