Days following the siege of Jasim in the northern countryside of Daraa by regime forces, local sources have reported a return to normalcy on Wednesday. This comes from an agreement between local leaders and the regime’s security services.
As per the agreement, main roads in the city have been reopened, allowing residents to enter and exit freely. This follows the withdrawal of Assad’s forces from the neighbourhoods they occupied over the past two days.
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The terms of the agreement stipulated that Assad’s forces would enter Jasim farms for searches before completely withdrawing from the city. Videos published by local observatories captured the withdrawal of regime forces from the city after thorough inspections, with reconnaissance planes accompanying the process.
Prior to the withdrawal, there was a partial deployment of regime forces in the city’s neighbourhoods, lasting for a few hours.
What has the regime achieved?
Last Saturday, the regime’s security services executed a withdrawal from their military positions within the city of Jasim. They implemented a siege by closing main roads, preventing residents from entering or leaving. This evacuation included the complete withdrawal from the city’s “station,” and military security personnel found themselves confined to the cultural center, as residents prevented their departure and compelled them to remain inside.
Before discussions about any agreement could commence, regime officers insisted that the negotiating delegation from Jasim City facilitate the removal of the military security personnel trapped within the cultural center. The motives behind the regime’s escalation remain unclear, though residents anticipate the use of familiar pretexts, such as the alleged presence of “terrorist” organizations, to justify potential invasion attempts.
However, the eventual agreement did not address the extradition of any wanted individuals to the regime’s services, focusing solely on lifting the siege on its members within the cultural center.
These events unfolded in the aftermath of an incident where a Hilux State Security branch vehicle was targeted with an explosive device on the Inkhil-Jasim road, resulting in the death of four members and injuring two others. Local gunmen have increasingly targeted regime forces in Jasim, prompted by residents’ complaints of violations, including the imposition of levies and the execution of arrests and assassinations against the city’s populace.
Major General Mufid al-Hassan, a key figure in Assad’s forces, played a pivotal role in the recent negotiations that led to the agreement with the elders of Jasim. Hassan serves as the head of Daraa’s security committee and bears responsibility for all of southern Syria.
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.
