Frontlines might not be moving in Syria, but that does not mean that the fighting is over. Various factions and foreign states involved in the 11 years old conflict are still resorting to targeted attacks or assassinations, and the Syrian regime and its allies are paying a heavy price.
On Monday, the opposition website Baladi News reported the death of two Syrian regime fighters, one in Idleb and the other in Suweida. Both operated as snipers. Southern Syria in particular is witnessing increased targeting of regime officials. In fact, the Secretary of the Baath Party in Daraa, Farid al-Amarin, was killed one day later west of the governorate, after being targeted by unidentified gunmen, according to the pro-regime newspaper the Syria Times. Amarin assumed his position after the assassination of his predecessor, Selwan al-Jundi, in February 2020, the pro-regime outlet added. Meanwhile, the Suweida-based Ahrar Jabal al-Arab Gathering has pledged to stand with the people of the governorate against the regime, according to the Lebanese website al-Modon. They even threatened to engage in a military confrontation with Assad’s forces. Suweida has been witnessing a protest movement ever since the regime removed subsidies on hundreds of thousands of families across Syria.
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The allies of the Regime are also suffering from frequent and costly attacks. On Monday, an unknown drone targeted an Iranian vehicle loaded with logistic supplies near the al-Quriyah town, 50km from Deir-ez-Zor, according to the Kurdish agency North Press. A military source of the Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian government forces told the Kurdish agency that “an unknown drone targeted a vehicle loaded with logistic supplies near the gas station on the town’s highway.” Though only material losses occurred, the Iranian-backed militias deployed among the residents fearful of a second attack, according to the source. The region has been marked by several battles between ISIS and the regime and its Iranian allies.
Still according to North Press, a member of the pro-Iranian Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was killed and two others wounded near al-Boukamal last Sunday. Unidentified gunmen in a four-wheel vehicle targeted a military point of the PMF on the outskirts of the town of al-Hari, adjacent to the Syrian-Iraqi border, with machine guns and RPGs, a military source in the government forces said. The day before, three pro-Iranian fighters were killed east of Deir-ez-Zor by attackers to steal weapons, mobile phones, and cash the three men were supposed to deliver to the military sites. Israel is also targeting Iranian forces in Syria. In fact, according to the opposition website al-Hal Net, at dawn on Sunday, the Israeli Air Force targeted -from northern Lebanon- the city of Masyaf and defense factories in the al-Zawi area of the western Hama countryside. Militias affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Lebanese Hezbollah are located there, operating warehouses and research centers for missile development and drones. This comes amid increased reports of Israel offering to help Assad reintegrate the international community in exchange for the retreat of Iranian forces from Syria.
