Government forces threaten to raid town in Syria’s Daraa
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, a meeting held between dignitaries and opposition former leaders on one hand and a government delegation on the other in the town of Jassim in Daraa northern countryside, south Syria, ended with a threat to raid the town.
A local source told North Press that the meeting continued for less than an hour, and ended without reaching any agreement.
Colonel General Louay al-Ali, head of Military Intelligence Branch of the government forces in Daraa, has threatened of raiding the town in case his demands are not fulfilled, the source added.
The source pointed out that al-Ali demanded the tribal and former opposition leaders expel “strangers” out of Jassim, the thing that the residents denied, claiming that there were no “strangers.”
The meeting took place in the building of the Cultural Centre, which is taken by the government forces as a headquarters, with the presence of Louay Kharita the Daraa governor and Louay al-Ali.
On September 3, representatives of Jassim and former leaders of the opposition rejected to meet the security committee of the government forces to negotiate in Daraa.
On August 31, dozens of Syrian government soldiers deployed in the vicinity of Jassim, preventing farmers, who were there, from leaving their agricultural projects.
Residents fear that these moves precede a siege on the town, with the aim of launching a military operation similar to that witnessed by the town of Tafas, in the western countryside of Daraa weeks ago.
Jassim, with a population of around 70.000, is one of the biggest cities in the northern countryside of Daraa.
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.
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.