(Zaman Al Wasl)- The conflict on the ground in southern Syria escalated with its international and regional dimensions as part of the major powers remapping their interests and areas of influence. With the delineation of new boundaries, observers of Syrian affairs highlighted the emergent headlines largely link to maps of alliance and disagreement at the regional level.
Perhaps one of the most prominent events that took place in Daraa province during 2017 was the Syrian opposition launching the “Battle of Death Rather than Humiliation” against the regime forces and their allied militias on February 13, 2017.
The campaign was launched after the regime forces and its allied militias’ attempted to advance towards the province’s former Customs area and to take control of the Jordanian border. The regime forces and allied militias tried to enter the liberated neighborhoods in Daraa city and al-Marouf in Daraa al-Balad although a truce was ongoing at the time.
The fighting lasted for more than three months during which the opposition factions took control of 95% of the strategic al-Manshiyeh district, although the regime and its allies brought in their elite forces, including the Fourth Division and Hezbollah forces, to fight in the battle with Russian air support.
The south witnessed a suspicious calm came after Washington, Moscow and Amman agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire in south-western Syria on June 9, 2017. Jordan considered this the first step towards bigger arrangements, while the Syrian opposition expressed their concern over what they described as “international understandings about the fate of southern Syria.”
The ceasefire agreement was followed by marathon negotiations, particularly in September and October, the most important of which concerned the Nasib border crossing with Jordan. However, the negotiations were suspended after the Syrian opposition, civilian and military, refused to hand over the border crossings to the Syrian regime.
After the agreements to reduce the escalation, the southern areas witnessed the creation of new political and military formations. These formations were the result of the integration of several configurations in the region. The most prominent new formation being the ‘National Front for the Liberation of Syria’ which resulted from the merger of 30 operational factions in southern Syria.
Political, civil and military figures in Daraa province announced the formation of the ‘Horan Revolutionary Council’ in late October. The Council declared its commitment to the unity of Syrian territory, rejecting any form of partition, forming a joint military command to manage the liberated area in Daraa, and representing the south of Syria and other areas.
The Yarmouk basin in the western countryside of Deraa which is under the control of the Islamic State forces witnessed military battles in 2017. The Islamic State forces launched a surprise attack on the Syrian opposition factions’ positions and took control of the towns of Tseil, Tel Ishtara, Tel Jamoua, Jalin, and Jalin Masaken. The International Coalition aircrafts bombed the Islamic State forces locations in the area, killing several Islamic State commanders. The opposition factions also launched several attacks to try to break into areas controlled by the Islamic State in rural western Deraa, but the attacks did not achieve its aimed results.
During 2017, nearly 17 media activists in Daraa province were killed according to the Ahrar Houran group statistics. Of the 17, some were killed in explosive device attacks or while covering battles in the province. Another five media activists were injured in 2017.
-Quneitra-
Quneitra province also witnessed fighting in 2017. The factions included under the Jaish Mohamed formation managed, during the ‘We have no one but God’ battle launched on June 23, 2017, to attack the regime forces and its militias’ headquarters and positions in Baath city in rural Quneitra. They killed more than 250 regime force and militia members, most notably the commander of the Golan Heights Regiment Majd Himoud and Brigadier Tariq Ali Hammoud. The opposition forces took control of 25 residential blocs in the eastern town of al-Samadaniya and the outskirts of the Baath city which is the province’s administrative center. The regime responded to these advances by bringing in large numbers of Hezbollah and Iranian militia forces to Baath city. The regime relied on aerial bombardment to regain 79% of the areas the opposition factions managed to liberate in the ‘We have no one but God’ military campaign.
Jaish Mohamad in Quneitra launched the ‘Break the restrictions on Hermon’ battle against the regime's forces on November 03, 2017. The campaign aimed at liberating several military positions in the northern Quneitra countryside and Jabal al-Sheikh, and lifting the siege on the besieged towns and villages of Jabal al-Sheikh in the western Ghouta. During the fighting, the operations room of Jabal al-Sheikh managed to gain control of several points, including Tal al-Haret and Qasr al-Nafl near the northern al-Tell al-Ahmar, and the mid-point west of the town of Hadar. The regime forces and militias and Hezbollah militias suffered heavy human losses, and the factions managed to break the siege on several of the towns in the western Ghouta for a few hours before the regime and its allies mobilize supporters to join the fighting to regain control over these areas by playing on sectarian tensions.
The attack on Hadar also revealed that the Assad regime’s claim that the Israeli occupation supports the Syrian opposition is false. More than one Israeli official confirmed that the Zionist entity fears for the Druze population of Hadar, and that Israel is ready to intervene to protect them. The majority of the Druze of Hadar are fighting in the ranks of the regime forces.
-Suweida-
Activists in Suweida province continue to face prosecution and the threat of arrest at any time as the regime controls most of the province and its security forces and militias are widely distributed in the province.
Despite this widespread presence, Suweida witnessed several populist disturbances in 2017, especially after the intelligence services arrested Gibran Murad, a political activist, in mysterious circumstances in July 2017. Murad’s relatives responded by detaining 13 members of the regime forces including a First Lieutenant in the military intelligence, and an officer from the Koum checkpoint south of Suweida. Dozens of civilians, including religious clerics, besieged the regime police headquarters and set fire to it threatening to break into the building. The regime released Gibran Murad a month after his detention. Gibran Murad has been arrested by the intelligence services several times over in previous years for his political activities.
The case of Catherine Mezher from Suweida generated a wave of unrest in Suweida and the Syrian street in general. Mezher’s family only reached the truth of what happened to her after she was kidnapped by kidnapping several members of the families of those accused of her kidnapping. The regime made little effort to investigate what happened to Catherine. In the end, a video emerged of Catherine in which she says she married a young man from Homs and she is living with her husband in his house. Catherine’s family rejected this saying the video “is fabricated to absolve the regime and its supporters in Suweida province for their actions”.
Catherine’s family killed three of the people accused of kidnapping her and selling her organs. The bodies of three young men were found in Suweida city on September 2, 2017. A plaque was placed on the bodies saying, “This is the fate of every traitor of honor”. The Mezher family then kidnapped Anwar al-Kareidi, the Basatin Association militia commander, in October. Catherine’s family claim that al-Kareidi was heavily involved in Catherine’s kidnapping.
While held by the Mezher family, al-Kareidi was filmed saying, “Brigadier General Wafik Nasser called me and said, ‘I will send you Imad Ismail, Abu Khadr, to take the girl.’ Abu al-Khader came and took the girl from Yahya Qadmani's house to the [intelligence] branch. And after that, I do not know what happened [to the girl].”
Activists in the area explained that after the video was filmed, Haitham Mezher released Anwar al-Kareidi for the sum of 18 million Syrian Pounds. Al-Kareidi was released in the house of Hamoud al-Hanawi, Sheikh al-Aqil (Druze elder), in the village of Sawhet al-Balata in the southern part of the province on December 05, 2017. The case of Catherine Mezher remains filled with mystery amid public demand for information and clarification about her fate.
The Opposition between the regime and the Islamic State Forces
In March 2017, Islamic State fighters withdrew from an area exceeding 300 km2 in the northern and eastern countryside of Suweida after fierce battles with the Syrian opposition factions.
With the start of battles in the south-eastern part of the Syrian Badia, the regime forces, with the support of Iranian and Hezbollah militias, gained control of the areas which the opposition forces took from the Islamic State forces in north eastern Suweida. The Badia battles extended to Jordan’s border with Suwaida province.
When the regime forces and Iranian militias approached al-Tanf in northeastern Jordan In May 2017, International Coalition Forces warned these forces of coming within 40 kilometers of the base. Coalition aircrafts carried out several raids on an Iranian militia convoy on the Damascus-Baghdad road in the Syrian Badia, after the convoy tried to advance towards the al-Tanf crossing. The convoy, composed of more than 15 military vehicles and dozens of regime force and militia fighters, was destroyed in its entirety.
The Syrian Badia witnessed the ‘The Battle for Land is Ours’ launched by Jaish Usud al-Sharqiye (Lions of the East Army) and the Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo. These forces fought the regime forces and Iranian militias to stop their advancement in the Syrian Badia region.
In a related context, the regime aircrafts bombed the al-Hadlat camp for displaced persons 32 times forcing the displaced to move to al-Rakban camp. At this time, Iranian militias continue to uphold their siege on the humanitarian roads leading to the al-Rakban camp. Due to the continued siege, camp residents suffer from a severe shortage of medical and relief items and the high number of deaths due to the lack of all necessities for life in the camp.
Zaman Al Wasl
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