Syria’s Daraa witnesses military deployments, different loyalties
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – The Syria’s south governorate of Daraa is an area that witnesses a broad-scale military deployments where each village and town has a military regiment and barrack in comparison to other governorates.
The First Corps represented by the Fifth Division, the Ninth Division, and a number of independent military units are deployed in Daraa governorate, dissidents from government forces told North Press.
Russia does not trust the Syrian government forces because some of them are affiliated with Iran so that Russia recruited former opposing militants in order to curb the Iranian influence and reduce its expansion in Daraa in general, according to defendants.
Under the slogan of confrontation line with Israel, massive numbers of the government forces were deployed in the governorate, Major General Muhammad al-Haj Ali told North Press.
“After the eruption of protests in Daraa 2011, the government tried to suppress them by increasing government forces and invading cities, in addition to mobilizing all government forces in southern region,” he added.
“As a result of the inability of these forces, despite their big numbers, to suppress the revolution and control the area which had been out of the government control until Russia intervened and targeted the area with heavy weapons forcing the residents to submit to the first settlement agreement in the summer of 2018,” he noted.
“Because the Syrian government did not trust the army officers, it intended to form small groups led by leaders of the Military Security Service, such as Military Intelligence and Air Force Intelligence, who are known for their loyalty to the government,” he said.
As for the loyalty of military divisions to the government forces in Daraa, he said, ” They are like the other divisions of the army, they are affiliated with the government and they work in coordination with Russia and Iran, and each of them has a specific mission, except for the Fourth Division, which receives its orders from Iran.”
Tasks of the government forces have been designated to the security branches since the eruption of the war and operated under the instructions of heads of the security services throughout Syria not only in Daraa, according to al-Haj Ali.
The army in the Syrian south especially Fifth, Ninth, First and Seventh Division are loyal to Iran “because most of the security services in the region are mainly loyal to Iran,” the military analyst, Brigadier General As’ad al-Zoubi, told North Press.
He added that Russia best realizes the reality of these military divisions, but in fact they operate under the instructions of Russia, which is the de facto ruler of Syria.
“Here we are talking about the army being loyal to Russia and Iran, and this means the absence of the regime and its loyalists, and that the country is outside the control of the al-Assad family and the Arabs together,” he noted.
Transferring responsibility to the security services and the absence of the army’s role “came due to international demands that the deploying army with its heavy equipment indicates a great popular sensitivity and that we will face a massive confrontation and therefore the region will witness no calm, while the presence of small security detachments with their simple equipment does not provoke sensitivity and does not indicate a confrontation,” he said.
“Exchanging roles between the army and the security services is a trick since there is no difference between the army and the security in suppressing the Syrian people,” he stressed.
The Izra-based Fifth Division deploys in Daraa with several affiliated brigades in the western and eastern countryside Daraa.
The Sanamayn-based Ninth Division deploy in the northern countryside of Daraa, and there is Belly military airport in Daraa which contains military helicopters.
All government forces in southern Syria are under the command of the First Corps.