Confidential sources have told Athr Press that a Free Syrian Army patrol raided the Rukban camp on the Syrian-Jordanian border and arrested several people. Those arrested included the head of the local council, Muhammad Derbas al-Khalidi, and the head of the Palmyra and Badia Tribal Council. Diwan Badr al-Azab al-Rab.
The sources added that the detainees also included civil society activists, namely Ali Al-Hafir, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Baijan, Obaid Al-Batawi, Ayman Al-Baijan and Sultan Al-Agonab. They indicated that one of the detainees is over 70 years old, while another is a 12-year-old child.
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Athr Press’ sources confirmed that the raid terrified children and women in the homes of the aforementioned two detainees. At the same time, the Free Syrian Army used one of the detainees’ relatives as a human shield, not to mention conducting a full house search.
The Palmyra and Badia Tribal Councils announced that they held the International Coalition responsible for detaining a 12-year-old child in southern Syria for “three days without charge.” “No child should pay the price for a difference of opinion between military forces and civilian activists in the region,” the councils stressed.
“It is the United States that installs and removes officials in the Free Syrian Army and international coalition forces,” the council said in a statement. “It bears direct responsibility for the unjustified detention of this child, along with three community elders.”
This incident comes a few days after about 70 civil leaders and activists went to Al-Tanf base to meet with a group of international coalition leaders. They were accompanied by a vehicle of Maher Al-Darwish, one of the leaders objecting to Farid Al-Qassim assuming leadership of the Free Syrian Army after the dismissal of Muhannad Al-Talaa. At that time, the delegation was prevented from entering the camp.
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.
