Regime-controlled areas in September 2021 | Two children and three women among 17 civilians were killed, while major wave of immigration tops the events
In September 2021, regime-controlled areas experienced escalating murders and other crimes in light of the deteriorating security situation in the entire Syrian geography. According to SOHR statistics, 17 civilians, including two children and three women, were killed in regime-controlled areas in September, and they were as follows:
- Five civilians, including a child, were shot dead by regime soldiers in Rif Dimashq and Daraa.
- A little girl was killed in bombardment by HTS on Hama countryside.
- Ten civilians, including three women, were assassinated and murdered in Latakia, Tartus, Daraa, al-Suwaidaa and Rif Dimashq.
Further details of circumstances of these incidents could be summarised as follows:
- September 1: Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham fired over 50 artillery shells and rockets on the regime-controlled towns and villages of Shatha, Jurin, Na’ourah and Merza in the western countryside of Hama, killing a little girl.
- September 2: A girl in her twenties was found dead in a dumpster on al-Kurnish street in Sahnaya town in western Rif Dimashq. The girl was beheaded had her hands cut off.
- September 3: Regime forces stationed in Tel al-Samn shot a young man dead, while he was working in his farmland in the surrounding areas of Tafas city in the north-western countryside of Daraa.
- September 7: A gang killed young man, Mohamed Mowafiq al-Badawi, with nine shoots and dumped his body in water well in Gaabadeen neighborhood in Reef Dimashiq. It is worth noting that his uncle and another person dragged the victim to Hawsh Arab in Reef Dimashq on pretext of buying car spare parts, and two perpetrators agreed to kidnap the young man and detain him in the area until asking for 25 million Syrian Lire from his family. But, when the uncle felt his plans were unveiled and the victim started to resist, they shoot him dead and threw the body in well in Gaabadeen neighborhood. The regime security forces arrested the victim’s uncle in Assal Ward neighborhood. It is worth noting that the boy was a lonely child.
- September 9: SOHR activists have documented the death of a young man after being shot by members of the Air-Force Intelligence service stationed at a military checkpoint in the south of Da’el city in the middle countryside of Daraa. On the other hand, another person was killed, while he was attempting to dismantle an IED in Daraa al-Balad in Daraa city.
- September 14: A man died of his severe wounds after being shot a few days earlier by unknown gunmen in front of his house in Tafs city in west Daraa countryside.
- September 16: A child died of his severe wounds sustained in indiscriminate gunfire by members of the regime-backed National Defence Forces in al-Qamishly city market. The shooting took place during the funeral of Sheikh Tai tribe and founder of National Defense, Mohamed al-Faris.
- September 16: A group of thrives killed an old man in his shop in Khan al-Sheikh in western Rif Dimashq.
- September 20: The dead body of a young man was found in al-Ghareia town in al-Suwaydaa countryside, after murderers stole the victim’s car which he works on as a taxi at night, and then the murderers fled to an unknown destination. Residents found the body, dumped near al-Ferwan well in south of al-Ghareia town where the victim used to work as a guard of the well.
- September 23: Two young men were shot dead by members of “al-Baath” Battalions stationed in Madaya town on the Syria-Lebanon border in the north-western Rif Dimashq. According to SOHR sources, the two young men refused to stop at the makeshift checkpoint which affiliated to al-Baath Battalions in Madaya town, which spurred the members stationed on the checkpoint to open fire directly on the two young men, killing them immediately. It is worth noting that one of the victims was from Madaya town, while the other had been displaced from Darya city in western Ghouta in Rif Dimashq.
- September 23: A man blew up a grenade near the gate of the “Justice Palace” in Tartus city. According to SOHR sources, a dispute erupted between a lawyer and the man who blew him self up with a grenade, which resulted in the death of the man and the lawyer. Meanwhile, security services arrived in the site of the explosion and started investigation.
- September 27: A young male from Haraf al-Mosytrah neighborhood shot dead his brother and his sister-in-law then he committed suicide an hour later at sight of the crowds and members of the security forces, but reasons behind the crime remained unknown.
- September 28: a girl from “Shukry” family was found dead and her body was split into two parties near irrigation ditch in al-Rastan city in the northern countryside of Homs. According to SOHR sources, unidentified persons had kidnapped the girl over a month ago, after they killed her brother for unknown reasons.
Unprecedented wave of immigration
Dozens of civilians especially young men gather in the official working days outside the buildings of visa and migration in Syria where the passport become the most demanded thing recently.
Dozens of civilians leave daily the country in different methods and others are internally displaced to Idlib and the Turkish-held factions areas.
The migration and passport administration has been working on issuing and printing the accumulated passport to end it before the end of Sept. in accordance with the manger of the passports and the migration administration.
With more demands on acquiring passports, one civilian said “the employees in the migration administration are bribed with nearly one million Syrian lira to issue the passport in few hours while asking for 500,000 Syrian lira for getting the passport in a week.
Meanwhile, the Syrian regime has been attempting to cover the issue of the people migration from Syria and covered the official numbers that have become scary turning Syria into an old country, after large number of civilians have left the country in the past few months.
The Syrian people most important aspiration become seeking a secure shelter outside Syria while some media platforms in Ghazi Entab in Turkey tried to deny statistics about the migration of thousands of young men outside Syria in the past few weeks while other media channels have been maximizing the phenomena with imaginative unreal numbers.
SOHR sources have asserted that hundreds of civilians leave Syria weekly via air transportation ways to countries like Egypt and Iraqi Kurdistan targeting settlement or travelling through them to other countries, as well as Russia and eastern European countries with goal of studying to escape the obligatory conscription.
On the other hand, hundreds leave by land transportations to Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq which made number of those leave the country hit almost 3,000 weekly.
Despite the repeated calls by the Syrian regime for the return of refugees, who left Syria in the past years, fleeing from the war and the regime’s strict security measures and repression, and despite the efforts by regime media and countries supporting the Syrian regime to show that Syria has become free of terrorism and turned into a safe place to live in, after the regime’s control of more than two thirds of the country, the number of refugees who have been forced to return to Syria due to difficulties they have faced in asylum countries, particularly countries neighbouring Syria is too few.
Ongoing Israeli attacks
On September 2, Israeli strikes hit military positions containing centres used by Iranian-backed militias for developing weapons in the scientific research centres in Barzeh and Jamraya in Rif Dimashq.
South Syria region heats up before striking new reconciliation deals
On September 9, the siege on Daraa al-Balad, which lasted for nearly 80 days, was lifted after destroying entire neighbourhoods due to the intensive bombardment by regime forces and the 4th Division.
The intensive bombardment caused considerable damage to the region’s infrastructure, as it targeted civilian’s houses schools, worship houses, medical centres and other facilities.
Accordingly, some schools, including al-Asmaa, al-Hadithah, al-Durrah and al-Behar, sustained partial damage, while several mosques, including the historical mosque of al-Omari, Doctor Ghassan, al-Qubbah, al-Mansour, al-Hamzah, al-Abbas, Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu Huraira, and al-Hussein, came under systematic bombardment which caused substantial material damage.
Regime forces also opened heavy machinegun fire on a medical field clinic.
Finally, the strict siege which was imposed on Daraa al-Balad for nearly 75 days was lifted at a time when new reconciliation deals started in Daraa al-Balad and extended to the rest cities, towns and villages of Daraa province.
Deteriorating security in al-Suwaidaa
On September 4, clashes erupted between members of National Defence Forces (NDF) and local gunmen of “al-Liwaa al-Suri” party (the Syrian Brigade Party) in al-Harisah village in the eastern countryside of al-Suwaidaa. The clashes left four NDF members injured, while the members of “al-Liwaa al-Suri” managed to take over several pickup vehicles with submachine guns installed over them affiliated to NDF.
While on September 10, members of an armed group affiliated with the Military Security from Attil town in the al-Suwaidaa countryside attempted to assassinate a judge and kidnap several state security elements.
This attack came as a reaction to the arrest of the leader of the armed group of Attil town, who was a security suspect and carried an expired security card.
The armed group has blocked Damascus-al-Suwaidaa highway near al-Shaer roundabout in Attil town, and began shooting cars indiscriminately. It is worth noting that the targeted cars included the car of a judge known by his initials as M.F.
Moreover, the group fired RPGs on a checkpoint of the state security service and the regime-backed 44th Regiment, so regime forces released the leader of the armed group.
Separately, another group affiliated with State Security service known as “Anti-Terrorism Forces” arrested some members of an assassination cell working for the military security service and confiscated Hash, weapons, RPGs and fake security IDs of the Military Intelligence Branch 217 in their possession. The cell was planning for assassinations against the members of the Anti-Terror Forces for 20 million Syrian Lira for each operation.
It is worth noting that the Syrian regime exploits the leaders of some armed factions and gangs in al-Suwaidaa province to serve its interests and agenda in the region and to terrorize oppositionists and protesters.
The members of these armed group hold security IDs and move comfortably among the region’s cities, although they are wanted for dozens of theft, murders and kidnappings.
Military Security service is responsible for the security files in al-Suwaidaa province. However, it is accused of being involved in assassinations, security chaos, and drug trafficking to Jordan.
Also, on September 12, SOHR activists reported growing tension in al-Suwaidaa, which started this morning after a group affiliated to the Military Intelligence service kidnapped people from al-Quraya town and a person from al-Suwaidaa city.
Meanwhile, a group of local gunmen from al-Quraya town known as “Ghayari al-Quraya” (al-Quraya Raiders) working for the State Security service threatened the kidnappers to attack the house of their leader with RPGs, unless the kidnapped people were released. However, the kidnappers did not respond to these threats. The dispute evolved to deployment of “Ghayari al-Quraya” group near al-Ma’alab roundabout in north al-Suwaidaa city where they were shot by the group affiliated to the Military Intelligence service, which left one fighter, who was a relative of one of the kidnapped people, dead.
On September 14, members of “Rejal Al-Karama Movement” encircled the Military Security branch in al-Suwaidaa city, after a group affiliated to the Military Intelligence services had assaulted a commander in “Rejal Al-Karama Movement”.
While on September 21, unknown gunmen kidnapped a civilian in al-Suwaidaa city, and demanded his parents pay 100,000 USD in return for releasing him. The kidnappers threatened to kill civilian in case that his family did not pay the ransom. It is worth noting that the victim owns a pastry shop in al-Suwaidaa city.
Similarly, on September 29, al-Dour village in west al-Suwaidaa countryside has witnessed exchange of kidnappings between local armed men working for security services affiliated to the Syrian regime from al-Suwaidaa and other armed men from Daraa countryside.
Threats to launch military operation in north Homs countryside
Regime forces asked the dignitaries of Talbiseh and al-Rastan cities in the northern countryside of Homs to persuade some local gunmen, who had struck reconciliation deals, to hand over individual weapons and strike new reconciliations. The dignitaries were also informed that the people rejecting this decision would be evacuated to north Syria region.
Meanwhile, regime security services have established new checkpoints in several areas in the northern countryside of Homs and threatened of launching a military operation if the new requests were rejected.
It is worth noting that a fruitless meeting was held a week ago between the dignitaries of Talbiseh and al-Rastan and the head of regime general intelligence service, in which regime forces announced that they wanted to storm the region and confiscate individual weapons in possession of former fighters with settled-status and deploy more security checkpoints. Te negotiations between the two sides resumed today, however, no agreements have been reached so far.
Turning a blind-eye to the prevalence of drugs: regime forces and the 4th Division repress civilians in Aleppo and take over their money
Many regime forces’ checkpoints are prevalent in the vicinity of Aleppo city. These checkpoints are supposed to keep security, prevent thefts and prevent looting of civilians’ homes. However, regime soldiers and militiamen stationed on these checkpoints have exploited their locations and focused only on looting passengers who often have various currencies in their possession, especially since these checkpoints are located near routes used for smuggling goods and people to SDF-held areas, areas under the control of Turkish-backed factions and areas under the control of opposition factions in the “de-escalation zone”.
According to a circular issued by regime security authorities and the 4th Division and distributed to all checkpoints in Aleppo governorate, money with any civilian must be confiscated in the case that he has over 300,000 SYL in his/her possession, while the confiscated money will be delivered to the Central Bank in Aleppo.
On the other hand, the selling drugs and Hash has become phenomenon in Aleppo city where large quantities if narcotics entered and sold for the young males via Syrian mediators who are protected by Iran-backed factions in Aleppo countryside. It is worth noting that the profits of trading narcotics go to the factions. According to SOHR, someone named “R.O.” who is the main distributor for Has in Aleppo city has been selling the drugs via mediators in the neighborhood at sight of the Syrian regime security services while Iran-backed factions are protecting his and facilitate his work because he has very strong ties with Lebanese Hezbollah leaders in Syria.
In al-Hasakah, however, SOHR activists monitored growing anger prevailing among residents in Zanoud neighbourhood in al-Qamishly city over regime forces’ violations, while some residents appealed to the Autonomous Administration to find a solution putting and end to these escalating violations.
In this context, members of Abu Ziyad headquarters of the regime-backed regiment of Tartab forced students and teachers out of Mohamed Abd al-Khalaf and Ahmed al-Hasan schools. In addition, the regime-backed militiamen beaten the students and teachers, before they seized these two schools and turned them into military barracks and headquarters. These developments coincided with the start of the school year.
It is worth noting that the Zanoud neighborhood which is located in the south of al-Qamishly city is fully controlled by regime forces.
4th Division deploys at NDF checkpoints at border with Lebanon
4th Division, headed by Maher al-Assad, brother of the Syrian President has received recently several checkpoints of the National Defense in areas of Raknous, Qarah, Aasa al-Ward in west Qalamon in the Damascus countryside at the Syrian-Lebanese borders.
Members of the 4th Division at the deployed at the checkpoints have imposed financial levy on the populations especially the farmers on pretext that they garner large revenues from the trafficking processes to and from Lebanon.
The 4th Division members imposed 50,000 Syrian lira which equals 14 US dollars on the farmers cars weekly to allow them to cross easily. According to SOHR activists, the 4th Division leaders had met with drugs merchants in the region and asked them to pay levies for passing after some leaders in the National Defense under control of the Syrian regime were easing the traders work and were even their partners in the region that is considered the main feeder of drugs in Syria at the border with Lebanon. Merchants from the rest of the Syrian regions were buying Hash substance from well-known persons with good relations with the National Defense forces formerly before those forces presence were only limited to west Qalamon in the Damascus countryside at the Syrian-Lebanese borders.