Unknown gunmen opened fire on an ex-commander of a pro-Russian opposition force in Al-Harrak town in the eastern countryside of Daraa at a time when assassinations and security attacks have reigned on south Syrian areas.
“Unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on Mohammed al-Masri, a commander with the 5th Corps, which is linked to Russian forces in Deraa,” a commander in the Southern Front, a group operating under the Free Syrian Army (FSA) told the German press agency on Wednesday.
Masri had been a commander in the “Shabab Al-Sunnah” faction, also linked to the FSA.
Following his killing, members of Shabab Al-Sunna erected checkpoints in the area but failed to arrest the killers.
According to reports, Masri was killed by members of the Syrian government forces following several previous failed attempts to assassinate him, the latest one on June 20 when a bus carrying members from the 5th Corps was targeted by an improvised explosive device in Daraa, killing 12 and wounding at least 25 while on their way back from a Russian training base in the province of Latakia.
“Despite signing the reconciliation agreement, Syrian security forces arrested Masri last June in the city of Damascus. He was later released by Russian forces,” the commander said.
Activists in South Daraa documented 30 assassinations in the province last month, including 15 civilians and 10 former faction members who struck “reconciliation and settlements” deals with the regime and others who refused to join any pro-regime military sides.
In the last 24 hours, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said unknown gunmen shot dead a member of the regime’s military security in Nawa city in the western countryside of Daraa while a man was found hung in Al-Qusur neighborhood in Daraa Al-Mahattah in Daraa city. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.
Several analysts try to link the rising assassinations to the conflict between Russia and Iran in the area while others believe that those incidents are the result of uncontrolled possession of arms and the presence of parties trying to benefit from the Russian-Iranian dispute in south Syria to achieve their objectives.
