For the third consecutive day, armed clashes continue in the city of Jassem in the northern countryside of Daraa between two local groups, causing the displacement of civilians from the area.
The correspondent of Enab Baladi in Daraa reported on Tuesday that the city of Jassem is witnessing security tension for the third consecutive day, following the assassination of local leader Abdul Allah al-Halqi (Abu Asim), for which a group led by Wael al-Jalam (al-Ghobini) is accused of responsibility.
According to a local leader in Jassem, who declined to be named for security reasons, the assassination of leader Abdul Allah Halqi resulted in armed clashes in the city of Jassem, causing displacement within the city’s neighbourhoods since last Sunday.
The notables and people of the city called on the Central Committees and the Eighth Brigade to intervene and end the fighting. All attempts to calm down failed, as a delegation of notables from the city of Inkhil tried to reach a truce or ceasefire on Tuesday without much result.
The local leader told Enab Baladi that a number of civilians are stuck in the circle of clashes, while both sides exchange accusations of not accepting the ceasefire because civilians are leaving the area of confrontations.
Over the past two days, the city has witnessed the displacement of civilians to other neighbourhoods in the city and neighbouring cities such as Inkhil and Nawa.
The local website Daraa 24 said on Monday that mediation launched by a delegation of notables from the city of Inkhil heading to the city of Jassem failed to reach a solution that satisfies the conflicting parties and stops the clashes.
The same website said on Monday evening that a curfew had been announced in the city of Jassem through loudspeakers in the city’s mosques.
The military confrontations between two military groups broke out last Sunday in the city of Jassem after the clan Halqi warned the civilian population in the southern neighbourhood of the city to evacuate their homes and disclaimed responsibility for any damage in the event of an attack on the neighbourhood, which is inhabited by families, most of whom belong to the clan al-Jalam to which the leader Wael Ghobini belongs.
Daraa governorate has not been absent from scenes of armed confrontations between local factions that developed after the regime’s control of southern Syria in July 2018 in the absence of active or deterrent security actors.
The most prominent of these confrontations occurred in the city of Tafas during the past two years, including clashes between the al-Zu’bi family and the Kiwan family, in which more than 15 civilians were killed, as well as clashes in the city of Inkhil, another in Naseeb, and a third in Giza, in which civilians were also killed.
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.
