‘Chaos reigns’ in cradle of Syria uprising

Bombings, gun violence and mysterious assassinations: In Syria’s southern province of Deraa, an experiment to use surrendering rebels as regime proxies has seen the area descend into lawlessness. Unlike other parts of Syria retaken by the regime, the army has not deployed across the whole province, relying instead on its unlikely partners to ensure security.

But the surrender deal “has failed to usher in stability, and chaos reigns,” according to Salam, a former Deraa resident who left the province last month.

“The assassinations and explosions are increasing day by day,” the man in his 30s added, asking to use a pseudonym for fear of reprisals.

Some rebels and their families started evacuating Deraa in July 2018 under a surrender deal brokered by regime ally Russia after weeks of fierce bombardment.

Their loss of the province dealt a symbolic blow to the uprising, which started with massive protests in Deraa in 2011 after a group of teenagers were arrested over anti-regime graffiti.

Under the 2018 deal, opposition fighters who chose to remain were granted amnesty on condition they handed over heavy weapons. Light firearms were exempt.

After a series of victories against rebels and militants, President Bashar Assad’s government now controls around 60 percent of the country.

Government institutions have returned to Deraa.

But unlike in other parts of Syria back under government control, from which most rebels withdrew, many former opposition fighters stayed behind in Deraa.

They retain control over large rural areas to its south, west and east, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

They also hold southern parts of Deraa’s provincial capital, known as Deraa al-Balad, the Britain-based activist group said.

Some have started working with state institutions or joined a Russian-backed contingent of the Syrian army.

Syrian military and security forces man checkpoints on the outskirts of these areas, the Observatory said.

‘Targeted killings’ Deraa province lies on the frontier with Jordan. It also borders Israel, which is suspected of working with Russia to prevent Iranian-backed forces from deploying near its frontier, according to analysts.

The region’s “uniqueness lies in the degree to which opposition structures have remained intact,” said Alex Simon of the Synaps network, a Beirut-based research group.

The government’s “comparatively hands-off approach” to the province reflects an “effort to economize what remains of a depleted military apparatus,” he said.

Simon said former rebel factions “make convenient proxies for the Russians and the regime” in areas where the army is absent.

“But they’re also a liability: Residual weapons and simmering anti-Assad sentiment create the potential for violent flare-ups,” he added.

Loyalists in Deraa routinely face the menace of explosions and gunfire, said the Observatory, which has documented 60 such attacks since June.

Omar al-Hariri, an opposition activist, said the proliferation of weapons in a province still bubbling with anti-Assad sentiment “will naturally result in the formation of sleeper cells.”

“This is why operations against the regime have started to intensify,” the Deraa-born activist told AFP.

But, Rifaat, another Deraa resident, said it was impossible to determine who was responsible.

“There are weapons in every house,” Rifaat told AFP, also using a pseudonym.

“Anyone can murder anyone for whatever reason.”

The United Nations said that civilians working with state institutions, as well as former rebel fighters, have been hit by seemingly targeted killings.

‘Empty words’In March, dozens took part in a rare demonstration after a statue of the president’s late father, Hafez Assad, was erected to replace one destroyed by protesters at the start of the uprising.

And last month, anti-regime graffiti reappeared on a Deraa wall.

Deraa is similar to other former rebel bastions in that hundreds there have been detained and forcibly conscripted into Assad’s army despite the so-called reconciliation deals.

Between July 26 last year and the end of March this year, at least 380 people were arrested or detained, the U.N. said.

“Many of those arrested were humanitarians, army defectors or people affiliated with anti-government forces,” said Sara Kayyali, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch. Such abuses have transformed reconciliation promises into “empty words,” she said.

To avoid arrest or conscription, Rifaat said he did not leave Deraa al-Balad.

“There are many others just like me,” he told AFP.

“As long as we don’t cross regime checkpoints outside the area, nobody can reach us.”

Rifaat said he sometimes felt as if he were under siege.

But, he said, that was “a million times better than fighting with the regime or being imprisoned.”

Source: ‘Chaos reigns’ in cradle of Syria uprising | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR