(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian rebels in Dumayr east of Damascus have agreed to lay down their arms and to hand over the town to the regime army, local activists said Monday.
The ‘surrender deal’ in the strategic town followed the fall of Eastern Ghouta and its capital, Douma. Such a victory for the Assad regime pushed the nearby towns to follow the same fate as the seven-year-old war reached an end amid deep disappointment and sorrow for people who demanded freedom and dignity but the outcome was absurd.
Rebels of Eastern Qalamoun sought to escape a ferocious offensive like the Gouta’s one that claimed lives of 1600 people, including 78, in poison gas attack.
Said Seif, spokesman for Martyr Ahmed al-Abdu Units said rebels have no other solutions. Rebels seek to avoid the civilians the scourge of the war as regime army shows no leniency.
The town of Dumayr enjoys a significant importance for the Syrian regime, as many army bases are located around the town besides the interstate highway that connects Damascus with Baghdad and eastern Syria.
The town hosts Syria’s historic military base which once was a home for the military pilot Hafez al-Assad in the 1950s for six years.
The father of Bashar la-Assad took over the power in 1963 with his fellow Alawite officers after a coup staged from the Dumayr air base.
According to Dumayr-based activist Marwan al-Qadi, the Russian military police will be deployed in the town as the destination of rebels have not yet determined.
The deal which recheaed between the negotiation committee and regime on Sunday will give army defectors six-month time limit to join their units and the youth who escaped conscription also must do their military service.
The committee demand to solve the file of the army’s defectors to avoid any future reprisals as well, as they seek the release of the detainees.
Rebels of Dumayr played key role in fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Syrian desert, known as Badia, and along the border with Iraq.
The town has been kept out of bombing and military campaigns since the local rebel groups reached an unspoken cease-fire deal with the regime army five years ago.
Zaman Al Wasl
Post Your Comments
fill all fields below