Three members of the Syrian Internal Security Forces and a member of local armed groups were killed in clashes between the country’s new authorities and former military security forces affiliated with the ousted regime in the town of al-Sanamayn in the southern Daraa governorate.
Civilians, including women and children, were wounded in the unrest.
Military reinforcements arrived in the town on Wednesday morning to “raid outlawed armed groups,” a statement from Daraa authorities said, citing Internal Security official Abdul-Razzaq al-Khatib.
“The clashes remain intense in several buildings in the southwestern district of the city,” Khatib said, adding that a security officer was wounded in a direct gunfire attack on a checkpoint in the town on Tuesday.
Gunfights have been reported across Syria since the new authorities took power in Damascus on Dec. 8, with security officials blaming loyalists of the former regime for the unrest.
The authorities have launched security operations targeting what they describe as “remnants of the former regime,” leading to arrests, according to official statements.
Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the biggest challenges for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, following a devastating civil war that began in 2011 and saw multiple factions involved.
The local news outlet Daraa 24 reported that the deceased were associated with a group led by Mohsen al-Himid, a former operative of the military security branch under the Assad regime.
Al-Himid’s group had been actively involved in the clashes, making them potential targets in the ongoing cycle of retaliatory attacks and factional violence in the region.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the group “considers itself above the law” and has continued to defy state authority while committing serious crimes, including murder, armed robbery, theft, kidnapping for ransom, and drug trafficking.
Residents have long called for a crackdown on such gangs, particularly since the fall of the Assad regime, in a bid to rid their communities of groups that “terrorize the population, spread corruption, and destroy society,” the sources added.
The number of outlawed armed groups still operating in parts of Daraa is small, but they continue to fuel insecurity and fear among residents, sources familiar with the situation said.
“The government is determined to restore security and stability across the governorate,” one source told Asharq Al-Awsat, adding that these groups are “not factions but criminal gangs.”
Most armed factions, the source noted, have already integrated into the Ministry of Defense.
The Internal Security Forces had launched a security campaign on Feb. 20 targeting remnants of the former regime, as well as drug and arms traffickers.
The operation has also sought to confiscate illegal weapons in the Daraa towns of al-Harah and Nimr, in an effort to tighten security.
