By Ihsan Muhammad
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – In the summer of 2018, following the reconciliation deal in southern Syria, Iranian-backed militias and the Syrian Army’s Division 25—formerly known as the Tiger Forces and led by Brigadier General Suheil al-Hassan—entered the Lajat region in Daraa Governorate.
Soon after their arrival, the area was subjected to heavy destruction and turned into a militarized zone devoid of its civilian population. Most residents were forcibly displaced, and at least 50 men were arrested, many of whom reportedly died in detention, according to local residents.
Entire villages flattened
Ridwan al-Danha, a resident of the village of al-Tuf in Daraa countryside, told North Press that the previous regime destroyed the only Agricultural Center in the village, which used to serve more than five neighboring villages.
Following the collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024, residents began returning to the Lajat region, only to be confronted with a landscape of devastation. In seven villages and five hamlets northeast of Lajat, homes had been flattened, electricity and water networks obliterated, and even cemeteries had been bulldozed.
“People returned as strangers to what used to be their homes,” al-Danha said. “Even the memories are gone—there’s nothing left to bring them back.”
With no basic services, returning families have pitched tents over the rubble of their former homes. They wait in desperate hope for aid from humanitarian and government organizations, though, as al-Danha notes, “they have little patience left.”
Livestock herding, the villagers’ main source of livelihood, has suffered greatly over the past 14 years due to a lack of government support and increasingly poor rainfall.
Most homes, as well as water and power infrastructure, remain completely destroyed, deterring many displaced residents from returning.
The regime also obliterated an ancient village in the area, believed to be over 5,000 years old, along with surface wells once used for livestock.
There is no functioning medical facility in the area, forcing residents to travel 17 kilometers to the nearest hospital.
Systematic destruction and retaliation
Salem al-Shar’a, from the village of al-Shumra, told North Press that the former regime forces deliberately retaliated against the village for having supported opposition factions since their formation in late 2011.
“The regime destroyed the school, the mosque, the water tank, and the entire power grid,” he said.
Al-Shar‘a called on both the government and humanitarian organizations to help rebuild the school so children can resume their education after years of forced ignorance.
Mohammad al-Sabti, from the village of Hawsh Hammad, said both of the village’s water wells are out of service and urgently need rehabilitation to provide drinking water for the more than 2,000 residents.
In the meantime, locals are forced to buy water from tankers at a cost of 250,000 Syrian pounds per load—a supply that lasts a week at most for a family, and only a few days if livestock are being watered as well.
He added that villagers must travel 17 kilometers to the town of al-Masmiya just to buy bread, a burden that compounds their already dire economic conditions.
The majority of Lajat’s villages continue to suffer from deep neglect. Essential services like electricity, clean water, fuel, and other basic necessities are almost entirely absent.
Residents are urgently calling on the new government and humanitarian organizations to restore the minimum conditions needed for life and help them rebuild from the ruins.