Unknown attackers assassinated Qusay al-Halqi, the brother of the former Assad regime Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi, in the city of Jassim in the northwestern Daraa countryside.
On Wednesday, a correspondent for the pro-regime Sama TV channel, Firas al-Ahmed, said on Facebook that unidentified armed men had killed Dr. Qusay Nadir al-Halqi, the head of the family medicine center in Jassim in the Daraa countryside.
Ahmed said that Qusay al-Halqi was the brother of former Syrian regime Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi, and had been killed when he was shot in his clinic.
The incident comes two days after two members of Assad’s forces were killed on the Jassim-Ankhal road when they were struck by an explosive device planted by unknown assailants.
This coincides with a Russian patrol being struck with explosive devices in the northern Daraa countryside on the Jassim-Ankhal road, which wounded a Russian police officer and two members of the Assad regime security forces.
Since the start of August, no group has claimed responsibility for the assassinations in Daraa province or for the attacks on Russian forces and Assad’s forces—all have been registered as “unknowns.”
After the settlement agreement in Daraa, the areas in the province were divided into two sections—the first under Russian hegemony, represented on the ground by the Fifth Corps, deployed in Basra city and some villages in the eastern Daraa countryside, led by Ahmed al-Awdah.
The second section is dominated by regime security branches and military forces like the Military Security Branch and the Fourth Division (outside Russia’s military calculations) with its military dominance focused on villages in the western and northern Daraa countryside.
The regime has not commented on the security chaos in Daraa province, which saw a major “settlement” deal about 15 months ago, which had rebel groups withdraw from all areas that they had controlled in Daraa city and the western and eastern countryside to the benefit of Russian and regime forces.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
