Residents in Syria’s Daraa protest ongoing clashes in city
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Residents demonstrated on Sunday in Tariq al-Sadd neighborhood demanding to put an end for the ongoing clashes between militants of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) and local gunmen in the city of Daraa, south Syria.
A local source told North Press, “A number of community leaders of Daraa city asked the residents to gather at al-Omari Mosque in the afternoon to reach a solution that ends the ongoing clashes between both parties.
“Both the community leaders and residents went out in a protest from the mosque towards Tariq al-Sadd neighborhood, and just before reaching the neighborhood, the clashes intensified which led the protesters to go back without reaching the clashes point,” the source added.
The source stressed that “The protesters’ demanded the Fifth Corps, which is supporting the local gunmen, to leave the neighborhood, and then to start working on bringing both sides together to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution.”
The clashes has resulted in the death of more than 15 ISIS militants and eight members of the local gunmen, in addition killing a child, who was hit by a stray bullet, and wounding a woman.”
Since the clashes broken out, dozens of families have been displaced from the Tariq al-Sadd neighborhood heading towards other neighborhoods of the city.
On October 29, the gunmen announced through mosques’ loudspeakers a curfew in the streets and neighborhoods Daraa with the aim of capturing ISIS militants.
The anti-ISIS campaign came following a suicide bombing attack against the former leader of the Syrian opposition, Ghasan Akram al-Abazid. The attack killed four people and wounded five others.
Since the government forces re-captured Daraa in 2018, the governorate has been living in a state of insecurity, with daily assassinations targeting civilians, and members of the government forces, not to mention the spread of thefts.