Disputes have emerged between the Syrian regime and Iranian militias in the Damascus countryside over extending the isolation of the Sayeda Zainab region, which has been closed off due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Iranian militias, which control the area, are keen on reopening it, while the regime is keen on keeping it closed.
Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that arguments are taking place on a nearly daily basis between regime forces and the militias. Some of the arguments have even escalated into scuffles.
At one point the militias even kicked out some Syrian policemen from the area because authorities were being strict about the implementation of preventive measures, they added.
New virus cases are being diagnosed in the area.
Were it not for the government measures, the area would have definitely witnessed a greater outbreak, which would have spread into surrounding areas, the sources said.
The region is populated with Iranian militias, as well as other groups that are close to Iran. They all freely move between Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Iraq.
Moreover, the area attracts Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Pakistani and Afghan students, who attend Iranian seminaries there. It is also populated by Syrian Shiites from the regions of Nabl and al-Zahra in Aleppo and Kefraya and al-Fuah in Idlib.
The sources noted that the first patient to recover from the coronavirus was registered in a Syrian resident of Sayeda Zainab who had traveled to Iran’s Qom.
The Syrian regime has reported 45 virus cases, 15 in Sayeda Zainab.
The sources accused the militias of violating isolation orders, saying they freely travel between areas that they control. Their influence also extends to Damascus.
The militias claim they are irritated because of a drop in food supplies, but the truth is they want to end the isolation so that visitors can return to the area, the sources explained.
