Regime-controlled areas in January 2023 | Nearly 190 fatalities in acts of violence…12 assassinations and attacks in three provinces…escalating living crises

Regime-controlled areas experienced scores of dramatic developments in January 2023, including an alarming escalation of violence, worsening living conditions, tightening security grip and ongoing arbitrary arrests.

 

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 leave many casualties

 

In January 2023, regime-controlled areas saw an alarming escalation of acts of violence that left many casualties, where SOHR documented the death of 189 people across areas controlled by the Syrian regime and affiliated militias; the deaths are as follows:

 

 

Civilian fatalities

 

55 civilians, including 13 children and nine women. Here are further details of the circumstances of these deaths:

 

• 22 people, including six women and two children, were murdered.

 

• 16 people, including a woman and 11 children, were killed in explosions of old ordnance.

 

• Eight civilians, including two women, were killed in incidents of security chaos in Daraa

 

• Seven civilians died under torture in regime’s prisons.

 

• Two civilians were killed in indiscriminate gunfire.

 

Non-civilian fatalities

 

-89 combatants:

 

• 21 killed by ISIS in Syrian desert.

 

• 20 killed in incidents of security disorder in Daraa.

 

• 37 killed by opposition factions and jihadists in “Putin-Erdogan” area

 

• 11 assassinated in different areas across Syria.

 

-32 Iranian-backed Syrian and non-Syrian militiamen:

 

• 12 killed by ISIS: nine in Deir Ezzor desert and three in Homs desert.

 

• 11 killed in airstrikes by unidentified aircraft.

 

• Seven militiamen, including four non-Syrians, were killed in Israeli attacks.

 

• A “collaborator” with the Lebanese Hezbollah was assassinated in Daraa.

 

• A “collaborator” with the Lebanese Hezbollah was shot dead by Israeli soldiers in Al-Quneitra countryside.

 

-Eight ISIS members:

 

• Four killed in incidents of security chaos in Daraa.

 

• Three killed by Russian airstrikes on the Syrian desert.

 

• Three killed in clashes with regime forces in the Syrian desert.

 

-Two former factional fighters were killed in incidents of security disorder in Daraa.

 

-Three gunmen were killed in family infightings in Al-Suwaidaa countryside.

 

 

Kidnappings and arbitrary arrests

 

As regime security and intelligence services continue their repression, SOHR activists documented, in January, the arrest of at least 42 civilians, including two women, as well as the kidnapping of 14 others, including a three women and two children.

 

A regional breakdown of arbitrary arrests is as follows:

 

• Rif Dimashq: 31 people, including a woman.

 

• Deir Ezzor: Five people, including a woman.

 

• Daraa: Three people.

 

• Homs: Two people.

 

• Al-Suwaidaa: One person.

 

A regional breakdown of kindaps is as follows:

 

• Daraa: Five people, including a young woman and a little girl.

 

• Homs: Three people, including a woman and her daughter.

 

• Al-Suwaidaa: Six people, including a child.

 

Here are further details of the arrests and kidnappings documented in the past month:

 

 

Arrests:

 

• January 6: The regime’s security services arrested Shaikh of “Al-Abid” tribe, who hails from Al-Majawda village in Al-Bo Kamal countryside, without knowing the reasons behind the arrest and he was taken to regime’s security centres.

 

• January 10: Two Republican Guard patrols have carried out a raid and arrests campaign in Qudsaya city in Rif Dimashq following the attack on one of the Republican Guard checkpoints in two phases. The first attack took place in the morning and the second was around 8 pm. The patrols have raided a number of houses and residential neighbourhoods near Omar bin Abdulaziz mosque next to Basil Al-Assad school on the outskirts of the city, arrest nine young menwho were taken to the capital Damascus for interrogation about the evening demonstration that took place in one of the city’s neighbourhoods, where demonstrators demanded the release of the detainees and the overthrow of the regime. At nearly 8 a.m., patrols raided the area and deployed checkpoints in Qus Qudsaya area and the area between the city and Al-Waroud neighbourhood, arresting five civilians.

 

• January 10: A security patrol of the Anti-Narcotics branch in Homs arrested two people from inside Al-Shifaa Hospital in the centre of Homs city arbitrarily.

 

• January 12: Police officers arrested two civilians in Qudsaya district in Rif Dimashq for filming the police station. The civilians were arrested, and their fate remains unknown until the moment.

 

• January 13: Patrols of the Military Security branch launched operations to storm areas and arrest several residents of Al-Makiliba in western Rif Dimashq.

 

• January 20: A young man was arrested at a checkpoint of the regime’s military security in Al-Maamora area adjacent to Hawsh Arab town in western Al-Qalmon countryside, without knowing the charges pressed against him, and he was taken to an unknown destination. In the same context, a patrol of the military security stormed Al-Jabba town in Yabrod area in Rif Dimashq and arrested a woman and a civilian with his son without knowing the charges pressed against them, and they were taken to the security centres in Yabrod area.

 

• January 21: The regime’s security services arrested a young man called “Ahmed Al-Rafdan” in Deir Ezzor, the brother of a prominent former ISIS leader named “Amer Al-Rafdan,” who had been appointed Deir Ezzor governor by ISIS during ISIS control over Deir Ezzor.

 

• January 22: The regime military intelligence branch arrested three people from Al-Shammas neighbourhood a few days ago, after having left Al-Rukban camp, returning to their neighbourhood.

 

• January 23: Regime security members stationed at Al-Bel’oum checkpoint in Al-Mayadeen city, the Iranians’ “autonomous capital” in Syria, arrested a woman under the pretext that “her relatives had joined ISIS during its control of the city.”

 

• January 24: Two young men from Deir Ezzor were arbitrarily arrested by members of the Military Intelligence Branch for “taking memorial photos near the cars of Iranian and Chinese delegations at Umayyad Mosque in the capital, Damascus.”

 

• January 26: A “military security” patrol arrested three civilians in Madaya town in the western Al-Qalamoun area in Rif Dimashq for unknown reasons.

 

• January 27: The regime’s security services arrested a civilian from Al-Suwaydaa province, at Damascus International Airport, while travelling to the United Arab Emirates, in search of a safe haven, because of his political stances against the regime.

 

• January 29: The regime security services arbitrarily arrested a young man at the checkpoint in Mankab Al-Hatab village on the international highway in Daraa for unknown charges. The young man was taken to the regime’s security posts.

 

• January 30: The regime’s security services arrested two brothers from Kanaker town in Rif Dimashq and live in Jassim city in northern Daraa countryside.

 

• January 31: Members of the National Defence arrested a civilian from Harista city and confiscated his car that was loaded with medical equipment in Saidaniyah city.

 

 

Kidnaps:

 

• January 5: Gunmen kidnapped a Bedouin civilian from Al-Suwaidaa, when he was on the outskirts of Al-Sahwa town in east Daraa countryside.

 

• January 10: Unidentified persons kidnapped a 15-year-old girl on her way to her school in Al-Sanamayn city in Daraa countryside. According to SOHR activists, the kidnappers contact the girl’s family and demanded a ransom of 15,000 USD for her release.

 

• January 10: A gang has released the girl after they kidnapped her in Al-Sanmin city in Daraa countryside when she was on her way to the school, after negotiations with the family of the girl and agreeing to decrease the ransoms to 50,000,000 Syrian Liras, which is equivalent to nearly 10,000 USDs, after they had demanded 15,000 USDs to release her. The girl was released after the gang received the money.

 

• January 14: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped a civilian, while he was driving a car carrying vegetables and the car belongs to a merchant on the road between Damascus and Al-Suwaydaa, where he was taken to an unknown destination without knowing his fate or the identity of the kidnappers.

 

• January 16: An armed gang kidnapped three civilians from Al-Khalidiyah town in northern Al-Suwaydaa countryside, while they were logging in Al-Lojaa area western of Lahtha town in Al-Suwaydaa countryside, and they were taken to an unknown destination and their fate remains unknown.

 

• January 17: Unidentified gunmen on motorcycles have intercepted a cargo car at gunpoint and abducted a 16-year-old young man from Mafa’alah town in Al-Suwaydaa countryside, who was heading to Al-Hal market, in a cargo car, loaded with apples, accompanied by a driver from Aleppo province. The kidnappers have released and left the driver and the car near Buraq and Al-mismiyah, where a military intelligence checkpoint is located.

 

• January 21: A young man from Mordak town in Al-Suwaydaa was kidnapped by unknown people in Homs city, while he was being smuggled to Lebanon.

 

• January 24: An armed gang kidnapped a woman and her daughter in Homs three days earlier, while they were heading to Lebanon, where members of the gang contacted the family of the woman demanding 65,000,000 Syrian Liras to release them, while the family of the kidnapped woman appealed to concerned authorities and residents requesting emergency to release the kidnapped woman and her daughter.

 

• January 31: A group of “Zuaiter family” kidnapped a young man and his sister from Nawa city in Daraa countryside, near the Syrian-Lebanese border, while they were going to Lebanon nearly a month ago. The kidnappers contacted the family of the victims, asking for a ransom in exchange for their release or murder if the ransom was not paid.

 

 

Residents protest in Jabal Al-Arab, Homs and Rif Dimashq and unknown individuals leave anti-regime graffiti

 

Dozens of residents of Talbisa city in northern Homs countryside went out on protests, on January 4, amid closure of roads with burning tires, after the Air Force Intelligence arrested two civilians from the city, without knowing the charges pressed against them, amid security tension in the region. Moreover, residents of Talbisa city demanded the release of the detainees.

 

While on January 5, Al-Zabdany city in Rif Dimashq witnessed mobilization and deployment of regime soldiers under the 4th Division, after the spread of sentences written on walls of the city against the regime and Hezbollah. According to reliable SOHR sources, the sentences were written on the walls of Al-Saka road near Al-Ghofran Mosque and others written near Al-Shalah Mosque, before patrols of the 4th Division erasing the written sentences.

 

Meanwhile, tens of residents arrived in “Al-Sir” square (Al-Karama) in Al-Suwaidaa city, on January 9, to start a sit-in protest and call for their political and living rights following calls by the “Peaceful Movement” group yesterday for staging a sit-in protest dubbed “we will never reconcile,” in which the group called upon residents for gathering in “Al-Karama” square on Monday. On the other hand, tens of pro-regime regime and Al-Baath Party affiliates gathered in front of Al-Suwaidaa city’s municipality, attempting to fray the protestors and start skirmishes with them. On Whatsapp groups, members of Al-Baath Party in Al-Suwaidaa city had called upon pro-regime residents for gathering in front of Al-Suwaidaa municipality in order to denounce the stealing of Syrian oil by the USA, according to these calls.

 

Similarly, dozens of people from Al-Suwaydaa gathered in Sir Karama Square in Al-Suwaydaa city center, on January 16, in a protest against the regime and the demand for legitimate living and political rights, denouncing worsening economic crisis in Al-Suwaydaa and all Syrian provinces. Protesters raised placards reading “From Al-Suwaydaa greeting all free people in every city of Daraa”

 

Two days later, January 18, a number of people from Al-Suwaydaa arrived at the mausoleum of Sultan Basha Al-Atrash in Al-Quriya town, south of Al-Suwaydaa, to participate in the sit-in.

 

Also, on January 23, Tens of people from Al-Suwaidaa city staged a sit-in protest in front of Al-Karamah square in Al-Suwaidaa city centre, where the protestors condemned the chronic crises in Al-Suwaidaa and all areas across Syria. The protestors also condemned the failure of Syrian authorities to fulfill the demands of residents who stress their adherence of the fundamental of the Syrian Revolution and call for political transition and improvement of living conditions and economic situation. The protestors lifted placards with slogans written on them, which read “I represent the poor people.” “Here is Al-Suwaidaa…here is Syria.” “No to demographic change.” “When people starve, then rulers must be held accountable.” “Your salary is 15…how come…how are you still living…why are you keep silent.”

 

On January 30, The residents of Al-Suwaydaa renewed their weekly protest at Al-Karamah Square in Al-Suwaydaa today, for the eighth consecutive week, to implement a silent sit-in under the slogan “Enough is enough.” Protesters raised placards and banners confirming their continued peaceful anti-regime protests until the political dilemma is solved, and living and economic conditions are improved. The protesters chanted slogans calling for the immediate release of detainees and those forcibly absent in the regime’s prisons, affirming the territorial integrity of Syria, and that Al-Suwaydaa is an integral part of Syria. They called on the International Community to implement international resolutions, specifically resolution 2254, in order to achieve a political solution in Syria.

 

 

Crime rate is on the rise

 

Since early 2023, regime-held areas have experienced an alarming escalation of crime rates, in light of the regime security services’ failure to put an end to the state of disorder and rampant security chaos in all Syrian provinces.

 

The Syrian Observatory has documented 21 murders in regime-controlled areas since early 2023, where domestic violence and armed robbery were behind some of these murders, while motivations behind the others remained unknown. These murder crimes left 22 fatalities: six women, 14 young and adult men and two children. The fatalities are distributed regionally as follows:

 

• Al-Suwaydaa: Three murder crimes left three men dead.

 

• Rif Dimashq: Six murder crimes left a woman, five men and a child dead.

 

• Homs: Two murder crimes left a woman and a young man dead

 

• Hama: Two murder crimes left two men dead.

 

• Daraa: Two murder crimes left a man and a woman dead.

 

• Damascus: Two murder crimes left a woman and a man dead.

 

• Latakia: Three murder crimes left a man and two women dead.

 

• Aleppo: One murder crime left a child dead.

 

 

Daraa “the cradle of the Syrian Revolution:” Security chaos noticeably escalates

 

Incidents of security disorder, mainly armed attacks, in Daraa province escalated dramatically in January 2023, where SOHR documented 48 attacks in different areas throughout Daraa province in the period from January 1 to January 31. These attacks left 35 people dead; they are as follows:

 

• Eight civilians, including two women.

 

• 18 regime military personnel and “collaborators” with security services.

 

• Two former fighters who did not join any military formation, after having struck reconciliation deals.

 

• Four ISIS members.

 

• Two ex-fighters with settled-status working for regime services and backed militias.

 

• One members working for the Lebanese Hezbollah.

 

 

Chronic living crises

 

With the deteriorating living crisis and soaring prices of basic products and essentials in regime-controlled areas, SOHR sources have reported considerable lack of medicines in pharmacies, amid the Syrian government’s inaction and failure to handle the worsening economic situation.

 

Moreover, the prices of medicines, such as Brufen and medicines for heart disease, epilepsy, diabetes, cancer and flu, have increased greatly, as well as the crisis of the acute shortage of infant formula.

 

In this context, the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection has raised the price of infant formula, although infant formula is not available almost completely in pharmacies or marks in regime-controlled areas. According to the ministry announcement, the price of “Nan” infant formula has reached 18,000 SYP per a 400-gram-pack, while the price of “Guigoz” infant formula has reached 15,300 SYP per a 400-gram-pack.

 

According to SOHR sources in Homs, insulin, whose price has exceeded 60,000 SYP is unavailable in pharmacies and medical dispensary almost completely. Also, the price of a bottle of antitussive drugs has increased to nearly 10,000 SYP.

 

On the other hand, the living and economic crises in the areas controlled by the regime forces continue to deteriorate despite the slight improvement in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the United States dollar over the past few days, and despite the regime government’s claim that the situation has begun to improve after the arrival of many batches of oil and gas at Baniyas port.

 

Prices of basic materials continue to rise in the Syrian provinces amid the poor of purchasing power of the wider segment of Syrian civilians.

 

SOHR activists have toured some markets, asserting that prices continue to skyrocket.

 

The prices of vegetables and fruits have reached very high prices compared to the monthly income of Syrian employees and workers in regime-held areas.

 

SOHR activists have monitored some food prices in Damascus. Here is the list of some prices of foodstuff:

 

• Potato: 1,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Garlic: 400 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Aubergine: 2,800 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Zucchini: 3,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Onion: 4,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Bean: 4,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Green beans: 6,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Pepper: 2,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Cauliflower: 1,200 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Cabbage: 2,000 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Bananas: 8,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Apple: 3,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Orange: 2,800 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Pomegranate: 4,500 SYP per kilogram.

 

• Carrot: 2,300 SYP per kilogram.

 

Many reasons have pushed traders and vendors to raise prices to this extent, such as to avoid losses and the high transport fees and the huge taxation imposed on markets in regime-held areas.

 

The cost of transportation to the vegetable markets in some areas in Rif Dimashq amounted to nearly 80,000 SYP, while the cost of transportation from one province to another amounted to more than 1 million Syrian pounds.

 

The fuel crisis has continued to worsen since the beginning of the winter. Despite the promises made by the regime government to decrease the fuel prices to make fuel available in all Syrian provinces, according to some of the regime’s media outlets, regime-held areas are still experiencing a marked decline in traffic owing to the lack of fuel, the stagnation of markets and the decline in the demand for buying by civilians due to high prices and low purchase power.

 

On January 10, SOHR activists reported that an oil tanker was unloaded in Banyas port to be refined in Banyas refinery, where a million barrels of Iranian crude oil were unloaded.

 

Moreover, two gas tankers arrived consecutively at Banyas port, carrying nearly 5,000 tons of domestic gas.

 

This came in light of the ongoing crisis of fuels and domestic gas in regime-held areas, while the materials are available in the black market for high prices.

 

The price of one litre of diesel in the capital Damascus and Aleppo reached 9,000 Syrian Liras, as a family would need five litres for 45,000 Syrian Liras daily for heating, while a litre of diesel in areas near Lebanon as Homs and Tartos costs less. The price of a litre of gasoline ranges from 14,000 to 21,000 Syrian Liras, where its price differs from one city to the other, and domestic gas costs over 175,000 Syrian Liras.

 

It is worth noting that the Syrian pound today recorded a 6,325 against the US dollar in the capital Damascus and Aleppo, while in Al-Hasakah it recorded 6,470, after having recorded 7,000 over the past few days.

 

Also, regime-controlled areas have experienced considerable public discontent because of the prohibitively high prices of basic products and lack of others, along with the ongoing freefall of the Syrian currency and low salaries and wages. In this context, SOHR sources have reported acute shortage of infant formula, as it is not available in most of pharmacies, and its price, if found, has reached to unprecedented level. According to SOHR sources, regime authorities have set the price of a pack of infant formula “Nan” at 18,000 SYP and “Kikos” at 15,000 SYP.

 

At a time when only a few packs of infant formula are available on markets, the price of a pack has reached 50,000 SYP; such prices are unaffordable by the many.

 

The shortage and high price of infant formula triggered a state of public discontent on social media, where activists and social media users have called for securing basic products and deceasing their prices to a level affordable by the region’s residents.

 

On the other hand, many mothers started to search for alternative ways for feeding their babies, where many have found themselves forced to rely on cow milk which poses a great threat to the safety of babies aged under ten months.

 

Residents in regime-controlled areas are suffering from chronic crises, including, dreadful living conditions, stifling fuel crisis and soaring prices, amid inaction by authorities which have failed so far to reach workable solutions for these crises.

 

 

12 assassinations targeting combatants

 

In January, SOHR documented 12 assassinations and attacks which targeted members of regime forces and security services in Al-Quneitra, Rif Dimashq and Homs, which left many casualties. Here are further details:

 

• January 2: A lieutenant colonel and his escort were assassinated in an IED explosion that targeted a regime military vehicle on Saida-Ain Zakr road in the southern Quneitra countryside near the border with the occupied Syrian Golan.

 

• January 2: A 35-year-old regime soldier from Damsarkhu village in the northern countryside of Latakia was killed by gunfire between a group of people over a brawl that took place between them on Latakia beach. The causes of the dispute and the motives of the crime remain unknown.

 

• January 4: A lieutenant and a member of the Republican Guard forces, were injured when unidentified gunmen, on a motorcycle, with a silencer opened fire at a military post near Al-Saboura area on the outskirts of Damascus. The two men were taken to a Damascus hospital for treatment after the gunmen fled to an unknown destination.

 

• January 9: An Hilux military vehicle was hit by an IED that was planted by unidentified persons on a road in Al-Nasiriyah city in the southern countryside of Al-Quneitra, near the border with the occupied Golan, leaving regime officer injured.

 

• January 13: A member of the Qatari administration “Mohammed Al-Marwany” (Abo Morhaf) survived an assassination attempt by unidentified gunmen, while he was exiting his car in front of his house in western Al-Mashjara neighbourhood in Talbisa city in northern Homs countryside, causing only material damages.

 

• January 16: An NDF member was found dead with gunshot wounds and dumped near Euphrates river in Deir Ezzor city.

 

• January 16: The commander of the “National Defense” militia in Talbisah city in the northern countryside of Homs, Rami Al-Rahal, was assassinated when an IED exploded in his car. According to Syrian Observatory activists, the “Al-Rahal” was targeted on the agricultural road adjacent to Homs-Hama highway following the explosion of the IED in his car.

 

• January 21: A member of regime’s “Airforce intelligence” was shot dead in Al-Bokamal city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor which is under the control of regime forces and Iranian-backed militias by a member of the 47th regiment of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard militia in a dispute over the drug trade.

 

• January 22: A policeman from Damascus Traffic Branch was found hanged in his home in Al-Da’atour neighbourhood of Latakia. The reasons for the crime remain unknown.

 

• January 22: A regime colonel of the air-force department of the supreme military academy died of the wounds he had sustained in an IED attack which targeted his car on January 11, while he was heading to his work in Al-Qaboun neighbourhood in Damascus.

 

• January 23: A non-commissioned officer and member of the Military Intelligence Branch of the regime was assassinated by the explosion of an IED planted by unidentified persons in a car they were travelling in, on Ruwaihniyah road in the central Al-Quneitra countryside near the border with the occupied Syrian Golan.

 

• January 28: A member of the “National Defence” in his thirties was killed in Karm Al-Samadi neighbourhood of Jaramana city in Rif Dimashq following a dispute among a group of “National Defence” members that developed the use of weapons.

 

 

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.