Statement by Former “Eighth Brigade” Leader reveals details of attack

The former leader of the “Eighth Brigade,” Ahmad al-Awda, placed himself under the authority of the state and the Syrian Interim Government in a recorded video statement circulated by several local media outlets. In the statement, he revealed recent developments in the city of Busra al-Sham in the countryside of Daraa, including an attempt to target him.

Al-Awda said that a few days earlier he had been targeted by armed men, which, according to his account, compelled him to defend himself and respond to the attackers. He noted that clashes subsequently erupted in the city between the assailants and other armed individuals following the incident, resulting in one person being killed and another injured.

During his statement, he mentioned that he had “reached an agreement with the formerly ousted regime under Russian guarantees to spare bloodshed in Daraa,” affirming: “We protected defected officers and secured the release of those we were able to free from the regime’s prisons.”

He added: “We fought the regime, its militias, and extremism, and we were not spared from the tongues of detractors,” pointing out that they “refused to be a tool in the hands of external actors after the fall of Assad.”

In the same context, security forces affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government transferred Ahmad al-Awda, the former leader of the “Eighth Brigade,” from the city of Busra al-Sham in the Daraa countryside to Damascus.

ANHA