Regime-controlled areas in February 2022 | Nearly 90 fatalities in acts of violence…new uprising in Al-Suwaidaa…disastrous living conditions

Despite all attempts by Russian and regime forces to portray the areas under the control of the Syrian regime as “safe and stable after defeating terrorism” as they claim, the situation on the ground could not be more contradictory. Regime-controlled areas experienced scores of dramatic developments in February 2022, including an alarming escalation of acts of violence, deteriorating living conditions, ongoing arbitrary arrests and unprecedented wave of immigration. In this context, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked all key developments in regime-controlled areas in the past month, which can be summarised in the following main points:

 

 

Acts of violence leaves many casualties

 

Acts of violence in regime-controlled areas noticeably escalated in February, along with worrying rise in the number of people killed in incidents of security chaos, assassinations, domestic violence, murders and indiscriminate gunfire. SOHR documented the death of 89 people in regime-areas areas in February; they are as follows:

 

-25 civilians, including four children and two women:

 

• Eight civilians, including two children and a woman, were murdered.

 

• 12 civilians were assassinated in several areas in Daraa province.

 

• A woman and two children were killed in crossfire between SDF fighters stationed in posts in Al-Jerthi village on the bank of Euphrates river and regime soldiers in Dabalan village on the river’s opposite bank in Deir Ezzor countryside.

 

• A young man was shot dead by gunmen in the Lebanese territory, precisely in Wadi Khaled area on the Syria-Lebanon border.

 

• A media activist was assassinated in the northern countryside of Homs.

 

-Ten ex-fighters with settled-status were killed in separate attacks in Daraa province.

 

-Four local gunmen were killed in clashes between gunmen from Bait Jinn area and others from Bait Jinn farm, some of whom were members of the 4^th Division and others were regime-backed militiamen in western Rif Dimashq.

 

-Three unidentified people were killed in separate attacks in Daraa province.

 

-47 combatants and “collaborators” with regime security services:

 

• 23 were killed in ISIS attacks in the Syrian desert.

 

• Nine were killed in separate attacks in Daraa province.

 

• Eight Syrians and non-Syrians were killed in attacks by Israel.

 

• A member of a security patrol was killed in clashes with smugglers in south Damascus.

 

• One was shot dead by military security service in Subaykhan city in Deir Ezzor countryside.

 

• NDF member was found dead between Al-Nabak and Al-Naseriyah cities in Rif Dimashq.

 

• Four pilots were killed in two separate accidents due to technical malfunction of aircraft in Latakia and Homs countryside.

 

 

Ongoing arrests and kidnappings in light of considerable security chaos

 

As regime security and intelligence services continue their repression, SOHR activists documented the arrest of 45 people, including three girls, in February on various charges, including “communication with foreign bodies and cybercrimes,” while some were arrested for unknown reasons. Here is regional distribution of arrests by regime forces and security services in February:

 

• Daraa: 19 civilians, including a doctor and an elderly man.

 

• Tartus: Two men: an engineer in Banyas power plant and another man who have criticised the corrupt officials and the state institutions.

 

• Latakia: Five people, including three girls who were arrested for “communication with foreign bodies.”

 

• Rif Dimashq: Four people, including two university students in Damascus University, were arrested in Jisrayn town in eastern Ghouta.

 

• Hama: 11 people were arrested in Qamhana town.

 

• Damascus: A university student from Daraa was arrested in Damascus University.

 

• Deir Ezzor: Three civilians.

 

In light of the state of instability in regime-held areas, as well as across the entire Syrian geography, kidnappings by unknown gunmen continued in February with the aim of collecting ransoms. Observatory activists documented the kidnapping of seven people, including three women, in the past month, six of whom were kidnapped in Homs and one in Al-Suwaidaa.

 

On the other hand, SOHR documented eight murders in February 2022, where domestic violence and robberies were behind some of these murders while motivations behind the others remained unknown. These murders left eight people dead: two children, one woman and five men. The fatalities are distributed regionally as follows:

 

• Damascus: Two young men.

 

• Hama: A man and a woman.

 

• Al-Suwaidaa: A young man.

 

• Daraa: A man and a little boy with special needs.

 

• Homs: A little girl.

 

 

Disastrous living conditions contribute to escalating immigration

 

With the chronic crises, deteriorating security situation and lack of job opportunities in all areas under the control of the Syrian regime, south Syria region in particular, south Syria and Rif Dimashq experienced unprecedented exodus of young people. According to Syrian Observatory sources, dozens of young men leave Syria on a daily basis, heading to Lebanon, Turkey, Libya, other African countries, Erbil and the United Arab Emirates, fleeing from the dire living conditions and fearing repression and arrests with the aim to be driven to military service.

 

Furthermore, the Syrian government issued a new decree excluding more than half a million families from receiving government rations and subsidised goods and foodstuffs via “smart ration cards.” More than 15% of eligible families and 47% of private car owners were affected by this decision.

 

The standard for lifting the state-subsidy from private car owners depended on the family owning a single car “with an engine capacity exceeding 1,500 CC and the year of manufacture being after 2008.”

 

Also, the government was studying lifting subsidy for people who own several properties or real estate in the same province.

 

The decision was met with broad public discontent in light of the chronic crises in areas controlled by the Syrian regime, particularly the limited income per capita of workers and employees whose monthly salaries ranged from 100,000 to 200,000 Syrian pounds, equivalent to 28 to 55 US dollars, while the price of gas cylinder reached about 30,000 Syrian pounds, equivalent to 8 USD.

 

 

Al-Suwaidaa uprising and Russian-sponsored reconciliations

 

Al-Suwaidaa province experienced large-scale protests and demonstrations in several areas over the Syrian regime’s decision lifting governmental subsidy provided to a large number of civilians. The protestors’ demands were as follows:

 

• Turning Syria into a civil state without partisan or racial discrimination.

 

• Getting rid of authoritarianism and monopoly of the economy by the ruling class.

 

• Reaching a state of law and institutions and getting rid of corruption and repression.

 

• Investigation in cases of corruption and hold corrupt people accountable.

 

• Bringing back Syria’s looted funds and stopping providing the state treasury with the people’s money.

 

• Cancellation of smart ration cards, preservation of all rights of Syrian citizens to enjoy decent standards of living and securing of all their needs.

 

• Cancellation of security permits on documents of selling and buying real estate and authorization documents.

 

• Cancellation of customs duties.

 

• Controlling prices of all products to fit the current salaries.

 

• Disclosing the fate of detainees by listing them and referring these lists to impartial and independent courts.

 

• Tracking and disclosing the fate of the forcibly disappeared.

 

• Supporting farmers and enabling them to invest in their farms according to serious plans to improve the agricultural production.

 

• Countering the phenomenon of prevalence of drug business (the protestors stated that they would not accept that their province to be turned into a passage for smuggling drugs to neighbouring countries).

 

• Starting a survey and search for the needy, who have no sources of income, and modifying the Social Security Act.

 

• Enforcement of the laws preserving the rights of the families of “martyrs” and injured people throughout Syria without discrimination.

 

 

On the other hand, centres were opened in several areas controlled by the Syrian regime, including Al-Keswa, Muadamiyat al-Sham, Darya Al-Tel in Rif Dimashq, Maskanah in east Aleppo countryside and Al-Sabkha in east Al-Raqqah countryside, for allowing security suspects and young men who evaded mandatory conscripting to strike reconciliation deals and settle their security status. The reconciliations included all wanted people by regime security services for “state security” and “criminal” cases, as well as young men who evaded mandatory conscripting in the regime army and regime army defectors on condition that they must re-join their military units immediately.

 

 

Israel continues violating Syria’s sovereignty

 

In February 2022, SOHR documented four attacks by Israel on military positions of regime and Iranian-backed militias in Al-Quneitra and Rif Dimashq provinces. The attacks, which included bombardment with long-range missiles and airstrikes, left eight people dead; they are as follows: five Syrians, including a lieutenant, and three other Iranian-backed militiamen, but it is not known if they were Syrians or foreigners.

 

Further details of these attacks can be summarised as follows:

 

• February 9: Israeli forces carried out two rounds of attacks in Syrian territory in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The first round was carried out by fighter jets flying over Lebanon, where the Israeli airstrikes targeted positions on the old highway between Damascus and Beirut in Rif Dimashq and the outskirts of Jadidat Al-Shibani in Wadi Baradi where warehouses and military positions of Iranian-backed militias are located. Meanwhile, regime air-defences attempted to intercept the Israeli airstrikes, shooting down some missiles. The second round of Israeli attacks, which was carried out with rockets fired from the occupied Syrian Golan, targeted regime air-defence batteries in the same area, killing a regime first lieutenant. It is worth noting that shrapnel of a missile fired by regime air-defences caused material damage to civilian properties in a neighbourhood Qudsiyya area.

 

• February 17: Israeli missiles fired from the occupied Syrian Golan targeted at least one building belonging to the Division-7 Ground Forces in the area between Zakya and Khan Al-Shih in western Rif Dimashq. The sound of the explosion was heard in faraway suburbs. The attack targeted a meeting attended by unidentified security and military officials. However, the results of the attack remains unknown, while ambulances were seen rushing to the attacked site till dawn. SOHR sources added that the region had witnessed high traffic of cars, a few hours before the attack.

 

• February 23: Israeli surface-to-surface missiles fired from the occupied Syrian Golan targeted a finance directorate headquarters in Al-Ba’ath city and other positions nearby Al-Rowhinah village in Al-Quneitra province. The attack caused only material damages. It is worth noting that Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed militias are deployed in several posts in Al-Rowhinah and Al-Ba’ath.

 

• February 24: Israeli rocket fire hit posts and weapons warehouses of Iranian-backed militias nearby Damascus international airport and the air-defence system in areas along Al-Keswah and Sayeda Zeinab in south of Damascus. The attack killed seven people, including four Syrians: two regime soldiers and two members close to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The three others were Iranian-backed militias, but their nationalities remained unknown.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has been all along warning against the repercussions of the crippling chronic crises and security chaos in regime-controlled areas and elsewhere in Syria, with only the Syrian regime to blame for the disastrous situation Syria is in right now. We, at the Syrian Observatory, call upon all international actors not to abandon their responsibility and obligations towards the people of Syria and urge them to find a lasting solution to the tragedy of millions of Syrians and bring Al-Assad, his affiliates and all those responsible for violations and those who aided and abetted the killing of Syrian people to justice.