Thousands of civilians and members of the Russian-affiliated fifth brigade participated Sunday in a mass demonstration against the Syrian regime, Iran and Hezbollah in the city of Basra al-Sham in the eastern countryside of Daraa during the funeral of the victims of a roadside bombing.
The demonstrators chanted anti-regime slogans, called for toppling the regime and demanded Iran and Hezbollah to leave Syria.
The protest took place during the funeral of the casualties of the attack on a bus of fifth brigade fighters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday’s demonstration was the largest since regime forces controlled Daraa province in 2018.
The Haron Free League website posted video footage showing civilians from Daraa calling for the fall of the Syrian regime and the withdrawal of fighters from Hezbollah and Iran.
It said that since its establishment, the eighth battalion of the fifth brigade acts as a “barricade” in the face of the Iranian expansion in Horan.
It said the attack on the bus came after Iran fortified a checkpoint of the fourth Brigade led by Maher al-Assad, brother of the regime's head, Bashar Assad, in the western countryside of Daraa.
By competing with Iran, Russia seeks to control the south of Syria.
In the past weeks, Moscow has sought the recruitment of fighters to join the fifth brigade in Daraa.
Around 400 men, mostly former opposition fighters from Quneitra and Yarmouk, have so far joined the ranks of the brigade.
This came as the Division of Al Ghaith forces, which is close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, was seen deploying in the countryside of western Daraa after carrying out assassination attacks on figures opposing the Iranian expansion in the area.
