Secretary of Ba’ath Party killed in Syria’s Daraa
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – A Secretary of a branch of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party was killed on Thursday in a shooting by unknown gunmen in the eastern countryside of Daraa.
A local source told North Press that “Salama Abdulrahman al-Qaddah, Secretary of the Baath Party branch in the city of al-Hirak in the eastern countryside of Daraa, was shot dead by unidentified attackers.”
He added that al-Qaddah is one of the most prominent figures of the Syrian government in the city, and was among the members of the settlement committees that facilitated the Russian-mediated settlement agreement in 2018.
Al-Qaddah returned to Daraa after the government forces regained control over the governorate in 2018. He lived in the city of Izraa in northern Daraa, but later moved to al-Hirak after assuming his current position.
This is not the first time a secretary of the Ba’ath party gets assassinated, as two months ago unknown gunmen killed both Fouad al-Aboud, secretary of the party’s branch in the town of al-Naimah, and Awad al-Aboud, head of the town’s municipal council, in eastern Daraa.
In 2021, Daraa Governorate went through an 80-day-seige. After that, a number of Daraa’s notables and government forces, with mediation of Russian officers, reached a ceasefire agreement on September 5, 2021, including handing over weapons and deploying governmental security posts in the towns of the governorate.
Since the government forces re-captured Daraa in 2018, the governorate has been living in a state of insecurity, with one or two daily assassinations targeting soldiers and officers of the government forces, not to mention the spread of thefts.