A meeting took place between representatives from the Syrian negotiating committee and the regime’s security committee in Tafs, west of Daraa city. Russian officers also attended. The meeting occurred against the backdrop of security tensions and recent threats to storm the city, coinciding with threats against the medical staff at the National Hospital in Tafs and the need to review the governorate’s military security setup.
The Ahrar Horan Gathering said that the city’s elders called on Russian officers to withdraw all regime forces mobilized a few days ago on the western side of Tafs. This withdrawal would allow farmers to return to their land and harvest crops. Farmers have been prevented from doing so following recent security tensions.
According to the Gathering, Russian officers confirmed that all the elders’ demands have been met. At the same time, the regime insisted on reinforcing the military post that it had recently established on the Daraa-Tafs road, which the residents’ representatives had rejected. The representatives noted that the governor of Daraa had promised to keep the checkpoint away from the city’s surroundings.
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In the past few days, the Gathering reported that farmers had lost hundreds of millions of pounds because the regime’s security and military forces have prevented them from accessing their land and harvesting crops. To do so, regime forces have mobilized their vehicles and soldiers on the city’s outskirts, threatening to storm the city if residents refuse to meet the regime’s demands to hand over several opposition figures.
According to Al-Modon’s sources, the meeting’s outcomes remain unclear. The elders received only promises that have not been implemented to date. They explained that the security committee officers informed the people that another meeting would be held soon to determine each side’s demands, how much progress has been made in addressing this escalation, and to initiate the next steps — the substance of which was not disclosed by the elders.
On Thursday, the Tafs Committee reached a consensus with the regime’s security committee, which calls for responding to the latter’s demands to hand over opposition figures opposed to the settlement. The compromise provides that troops must be withdrawn from the city’s western outskirts and that artillery shelling — which killed one person and wounded several more hours after the deadline for handing over the opposition figures expired — must cease.
The head of the security committee in Daraa governorate, Major-General Mufid al-Hassan, threatened to invade Daraa city — and towns in the governorate’s north and west — with the participation of the air and artillery forces if the committee’s demands for the handover were not met within 48 hours.
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.
