​​​​​​​Activist from As-Suwayda sees solution in decentralization

 As-Suwayda Governorate, in southern Syria, has been witnessing a state of great tension and clashes for days, as the "Dignity Movement" took control of the headquarters of factions loyal to the Damascus government on Tuesday evening.

 These developments came after a security alert witnessed several areas in As-Suwayda, amid cutting off the Damascus-Suwayda road and other roads that lead to the center of the city of As-Suwayda, against the background of the arrest of the "Fajr Forces" supported by the military security of the Damascus government, a number of Shahba residents in As-Suwayda.

 On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored violent clashes with the "Fajr Forces" faction, and the attackers burned the headquarters of the Damascus government in the area.

Clashes continued in the vicinity of the house of the leader of the armed group "Raji Falhout" from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning, with strong explosions heard from time to time, caused by the use of rocket-propelled grenades during the clashes.

 As a result, the death toll from both sides rose to 13 dead and more than 30 wounded, and the dead were: 9 from the "Raji al-Falhout" faction, and 4 from the attacking local gunmen who attacked the headquarters of "Al-Falhout" in the towns of Salim and Ateel.

 According to media outlets, on Wednesday morning, the Dignity Men movement arrested Raji Falhout after besieging him in his house.

 what happened?

 The political activist and lawyer from As-Suwayda, Adel Al-Hadi, spoke to our agency about this, saying: "In reality, the tension did not subside because of the Falhout gang's continued detention of a number of the residents of Shahba city, its refusal to hand them over and its insistence that the people of Shahba hand over two other young men to it for interrogation by kidnapping several other people, which increased tension and the gang's lack of seriousness in resolving the issue."

 He added, "The escalation took place and was at its peak on Wednesday, when the headquarters of the gang was stormed in the village of Salim. The Movement, the Shahba Youth and other factions supporting it surrounded the house of Raji Falhout in the town of Ateel and stormed it from several axes. There are dead and captured members of its members."

The Damascus government is the main reason

 On the real reasons behind the instability, the political activist said: "The truth is that the Damascus government is the main reason for these confrontations, considering that the Military Intelligence organized, financed, and trained these gangs and gave them powers above the law to control people's necks and exercise the worst kinds of oppression against them.  Damascus bears full responsibility for the security imbalance in As-Suwayda Governorate.

 He explained, "The reality is that the Damascus government did not seek to develop any solutions other than false promises to procrastinate, because the government's security policy is based on relying on gangs to impose their presence and restore their control over As-Suwayda, and this matter will not succeed and will remain a cause for tension and chaos."

 He added, "The Damascus government has not benefited from the lessons of the Syrian tragedy and is seeking to restore the situation as it was before 2011, using the same means, the same mentality, and the same people. The Syrian government does not have the will to build or its tools, and it only masters the arts of sabotage and destruction."

 The solution is decentralization

 Regarding the appropriate solution to the situation in As-Suwayda, political activist and lawyer Adel Al-Hadi said: "We think that the solution in As-Suwayda as in Syria is the transition to a democratic system and the implementation of Resolution 2254, leading to political transition and the extension of the rule of law and building a state of truth and dignity according to an expanded decentralized administration that redistributes power  decision-making to reflect the interests of the localities.

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 ANHA