Syria’s Daraa witnesses unstable Security despite Settlements
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Russia is trying to impose security stability in south Syria in areas of Daraa and its countryside, but these efforts are still facing repeated assassinations, arrests, and chaos in the region.
The governorate has not witnessed security stability, and the assassinations, which were carried out in all cities and towns, are still ongoing, local sources in Daraa told North Press.
During the past week, seven assassinations were recorded in which nine people were killed, two of them were members of the government forces in the eastern countryside of Daraa, the sources added.
On Thursday, residents of Tafas city, in the western countryside of Daraa, found the body of the young man Ahmed Basil Khader al-Sayyah, a resident of the city, the sources noted.
The killers placed a sheet of paper on the body with a phrase saying, “This is the end of every junkie and merchant”, according to the sources.
Last Friday morning, residents of the area found two bodies near a military checkpoints, west of Al-Ghariyah al-Gharbiyah town, in the eastern countryside of Daraa.
The sources said that one of the two bodies belonged to a person of the town of Sayda al-Golan known as Abu Kifah al-Isawi accused of belonging to the Islamic State Organization (ISIS), while the government forces accuse him of being responsible for targeting a military vehicle belonging to the Military Security Branch on the outskirts of the city of Nawa, in which three members were killed.
The sources stated, “The two brothers, Hussein Abdulhafiz al-Ghunaim and Ali Abdulhafiz al-Ghunaim, were found dead in the Shayyah area, south of Daraa al-Balad. The two brothers work in trade and have not joined any military authority since the eruption of the Syrian war.”
Daraa residents accused the government security branches and their collaborators, because the weapons during this period were confined to their members.”
Since the settlement operations ended at the beginning of last November, and for the second time, government forces have bombed residential neighborhoods in the cities and towns of Daraa Governorate.
Eyewitnesses in the city of al-Hirak in the eastern countryside of Daraa told North Press that the government forces stationed in the Regiment 52, last Monday evening, targeted residential neighborhoods in the city of al-Hirak with anti-aircraft missiles.
They added that the damage was limited to material losses, and no civilian causalities were reported.
They stated that the government security branches are still committing violations against civilians of Daraa.
On Tuesday, the young Hussein Ali Al-Darkhawi was arrested, despite the fact that he holds two settlement cards, after conducting the first settlement process in the summer of 2018 and the second settlement, which ended in early November.
A source close to the young man told North Press that a state security patrol arrested him in the town of Najih, in the eastern countryside of Daraa, and he was transferred to the State Security branch center in Daraa city without being charged.
The source added that he was arrested in September 2018 by military forces affiliated with the Syrian Brigadier General Suhail al-Hassan, nicknamed al-Namer, before his release a few days ago.
“The increasing assassinations and security instability is an evidence of the failure of the settlement processes imposed by Russia,” the Journalist and researcher, Hossam al-Barm, told North Press.
The most prominent players in the security issue in Daraa, in addition to government forces and Russia, are Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, who seek the security destabilization in the province to spread chaos, He added.
Residents of Daraa who are opposed to the government also have a major role in controlling security and they have the right to achieve their demands, the most notable of which is the release of detainees who have been missing for several years,” He noted.
He stated that the government forces’ response after any assassination is targeting residential neighborhoods in cities and towns. As happened last Monday in al-Hirak city and two weeks before, the targeting of Nawa city, in the western countryside of Daraa, with heavy artillery and rocket launchers.
He said that the government is still using the security-mindedness in suppressing, arresting and absenting the population, despite its pledges to residents of Daraa and the Russian pressure on it.