ISF end deployment in Sanamein, maintain checkpoints at entrances

ANHA correspondents reported that the Internal Security Forces ended their intensive security deployment inside the western neighborhood of Sanamein in northern rural Daraa at noon today. They withdrew from the checkpoints they had established in the neighborhood in recent days, while maintaining security checkpoints at its main entrances.

The correspondents, citing city elders, reported that the withdrawal followed an agreement between government authorities and a committee representing residents of the neighborhood to settle the status of several people whom the government considers “wanted.” According to their account, the agreement includes a general amnesty, reduced penalties related to personal claims, and a commitment to treat anyone who may be detained humanely.

As of publication, there had been no official confirmation of the agreement or the terms described by neighborhood residents.

The reduction in the security deployment comes days after tensions in Sanamein, following a security operation carried out by the Internal Security Forces at dawn on September 17 at a house in the city to arrest people described as “wanted.” The operation was followed by clashes that, according to local sources cited by ANHA agency at the time, left three Internal Security Forces members dead and others injured, prompting the imposition of a curfew and a heightened security presence in the city.

The following day, the Internal Security Forces announced, according to SANA, that they had identified a cell they said was responsible for the killing of the three personnel. They said Mohsen al-Himeid and Ahmed al-Othman, known as “Al-Keshki,” were its leaders. Weapons, ammunition, explosive devices and equipment for manufacturing explosives were also seized during searches. On September 19, the forces announced the arrest of Walid al-Fallah, whom they described as one of the cell’s leading figures.

The Internal Security Forces continued their deployment in the western neighborhood for several days, alongside searches of homes belonging to people whom security authorities said they suspected of links to the group they held responsible for the deaths of their personnel. They later began scaling back their presence and withdrawing from checkpoints inside the neighborhood.

The withdrawal of checkpoints from inside the neighborhood, while maintaining positions at its entrances, indicates that security measures in Sanamein have shifted to a lower level of direct deployment within the residential area, pending clarity on the fate of local understandings regarding those wanted and whether they will be formally adopted.

ANHA