Escalating security tensions in Daraa

This morning, two young men from the town of Al-Muzayrib in the western countryside of Daraa province were killed in a shooting carried out by unidentified gunmen.

Local sources reported that the two young men were shot and killed by armed assailants in the town of Al-Muzayrib, adding that their bodies were transported to Daraa National Hospital.

According to the sources, the two victims were members of the “General Security Apparatus” affiliated with the Damascus authorities, and had previously served with the so-called “Central Committee” before the fall of the Baathist regime.

In a related development, one young man was killed and another injured last night in a shooting on the road leading to the city of Inkhil in the northern countryside of Daraa.

Local sources stated that unidentified gunmen in a car intercepted the two young men and opened fire on them near the road to the Saraya area in Inkhil.

According to the sources, the shooting resulted in the death of the two young men, and the assailants seized the motorcycle the victims had been riding.

Prior to that incident, the head of the General Security Forces affiliated with the Damascus authorities in eastern Daraa countryside, Mohammed Al-Sukhni, survived an assassination attempt. An explosive device targeted his car on the Khirbet Ghazaleh road.

These developments come after the announcement that the so-called "Eighth Brigade" had dissolved itself and handed over all its military and human resources to the Ministry of Defense. This occurred following days of tension in the city of Busra al-Sham in eastern Daraa, the stronghold of the brigade, after some of its members opened fire on Bilal Al-Droubi, a commander in the Damascus government's Ministry of Defense (who later died from his injuries). Al-Droubi had previously been one of the most prominent leaders of the brigade itself.

A-H

ANHA