Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Daraa (Southern Syria)- Riad Al-Zein

State of Alert in Southern Syria After Targeting Russian Faction

Opposition fighters walking in Daraa countryside July 10, 2018. (Reuters)

The Russian-backed “Fifth Corps” have carried out an inspection campaign after some of the Corps’ members were targeted in Busra.

As crimes and assassinations continue in Southern Syria, Busra – which is the stronghold of the Fifth Corps – witnessed the first assassination attempt of a prominent leader last Saturday, Sep. 18. An explosive device blasted in a neighborhood in Busra, targeting a military vehicle carrying Ali Bash and Qasim al-Miqdad, two leaders of the Fifth Corps group.

Both were wounded and transferred to a hospital in Busra to receive treatment.

Sources close to the matter revealed that the Fifth Corps conducted an inspection campaign hours after the blast, raided several houses in the targeted region, and arrested some of the individuals involved.

Further, a leader from the Fifth Corps was a target of a failed assassination attempt, as someone tryied to shoot him while passing on the road linking Giza and Elemtaih in the east of Daraa.

Adham al-Karad, former leader of an opposition faction in Daraa, threatened earlier to ‘escalate’ in Daraa if the Syrian army refused to withdraw from the zones which its soldiers accessed following the settlement.

Karad also demanded the withdrawal of local groups in Daraa that are working for the security bodies, calling on the negotiating parties and Russia to implement the settlement agreement agreed upon in mid-2018.

The former leader at Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous Operation in Daraa denounced the Syrian regime's recruitment of Daraa tribesmen tand getting them involved in clashes with the city's residents in order to sow discord among tribes.

The Syrian regime provided the local groups with weapons, tanks, and cannons, he added.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.