Preliminary deal between government, locals west of Syria’s Daraa
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Syrian government forces and representatives of the residents of Tafas town, west of Daraa in southwest Syria, reached on Saturday a preliminary agreement regarding the tension in the town.
An informed source told North Press that “the government forces and a delegation of community leaders from Tafas reached an agreement requiring an immediate ceasefire and the entry of government forces to search some houses in Tafas.”
According to the deal, the government forces would establish a temporary military post near the town’s hospital, provided that they withdraw after three days, the source said.
A second meeting between the two parties is scheduled for Sunday to finalize the agreement.
The meeting was attended by the head of the government’s Military Security Branch in Daraa, Brigadier General Louay al-Ali, and Tafas representatives including Khaldoun al-Zoubi, the most prominent opposition leader in Tafas, defected Colonel Abu Munther al-Dahni and Muhammad Jadd-Alah al-Zoubi, a former leader in the opposition.
The meeting took place in the office of Louay al-Ali inside the Military Security Branch building in Daraa.
In July 2018, the opposition armed faction and government forces reached a cease-fire agreement mediated by Russia in the opposition-held areas in Daraa Governorate. Under the deal, the opposition armed factions agreed to hand over their heavy weapons in exchange for staying in Daraa, and those oppose the agreement would go to Idlib, which is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
However, there are many opposition militants who did not comply with the deal and stayed with their arms in the governorate.
The government demands locals to hand over these militants so they can be extradited to Idlib and other opposition-held areas, threatening to storm the cities and towns – such as Tafas – if the locals did not comply.
On July 28, an agreement was reached in a meeting held in Daraa between representatives of Tafas and officers of the government forces. In the agreement, the locals agreed to hand over those unwilling to engage in the 2018 settlement agreement to the government forces and let the forces search in specific houses to find those outlawed. In turn, the deal entailed that all government military personnel must withdraw from the town after finishing the search.
However, the terms of the agreement were not implemented as some of those wanted persons refused to leave, prompting the government to shell the town.
Local residents are skeptical about the government forces’ commitment to the agreement, stressing that the Syrian government often did not abide by the agreements they had reached with the opposition.
Tafas has been in a state of tension for more than two weeks, after the government forces began bringing in military reinforcements to the vicinity. The forces also shelled the town’s residential neighborhoods and blocked many roads that lead to it.
Since the government forces re-captured Daraa in line with the 2018 agreement, the governorate has been living in a state of security chaos, with one or two daily assassinations targeting soldiers and officers of the government forces, not to mention the spread of thefts.