Things are moving in Suweida, the Druze majority governorate, located in Southern Syria.
According to the Syrian Observer, on Tuesday, the Men of Dignity movement took control of a military security militia headquarters in Sweida governorate.
The Suwayda 24 said that the Men of Dignity movement took control of the military security headquarters in Suweida and burned it. It was a center for kidnapping, murder, and torture used by the Falhout group of Raji Falhout, leader of the al-Fajr Movement with close ties to military security.
According to the website, clashes using various weapons took place in the town of Atil, in northern Suweida, between local factions and the Raji Falhout militia. As a result, two members of the military security militia died while clashes and escalation continued in the area.
“After the violations carried out by the Raji Falhout group against the people of the governorate, the movement began to surround the headquarters where the group’s members are holed up, with the support of all the honourable people of the governorate,” the Men of Dignity Movement, the largest faction in Suweida, said in a post published on its Facebook page.
Hours before the clashes, the militia detained three students from Shahba city travelling on a bus across the road between Shahba and Suweida.
Where is Falhout?
However, the whereabouts of Raji Falhout are raising questions, according to the opposition Nedaa Post.
The Men of Dignity claims that, after breaking into Falhout’s house and overcoming violent resistance, “Falhout was not present, contrary to circulating reports — and his fate remains unknown.” The statement noted that all the fighters inside the house were either killed or arrested.
“The Men of Dignity Movement warns those belonging to these terrorist gangs to surrender under the threat of being pursued. This warning extends to anyone who shelters or hides any of their fighters, as these people are considered to be their accomplices,” the statement added.
The statement criticized “media pages that claim to state the truth and instead spread fake news,” saying they are “partners of those terrorist groups who have been fabricating news to achieve financial and political objectives.”
Based on the confessions of the arrested Fajr Movement members, the statement stressed that Falhout had not been present in the headquarters since the previous day at noon. Falhout had received information that groups were beginning to close on his headquarters. The prisoners have not seen him since.
Inside Falhout’s house, the group found machines for manufacturing narcotics and stores of hashish and Captagon. They released several residents who had been abducted by Falhout.
The tension in Suweida stems from the arrest of several Shabha city residents on charges of belonging to the Syrian Brigade party. These arrests were followed by a campaign of arrests targeting all members of the Tawil family.
In response, the people of Shahba blocked roads, including the Damascus-Suweida highway, and attacked a checkpoint held by Falhout’s group. The move escalated to a wave of kidnappings, preventing Shahba students from reaching centers for their examinations. Following these developments, local factions mobilized and called on the spiritual leader of the Druze community in the governorate to support the public disbursement of the Fajr Movement.
