Syrian Border Security Officer Assassinated in Daraa

A photo circulated on social media shows the scene of the assassination of the Syrian security officer. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A photo circulated on social media shows the scene of the assassination of the Syrian security officer. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Syrian Border Security Officer Assassinated in Daraa

A photo circulated on social media shows the scene of the assassination of the Syrian security officer. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A photo circulated on social media shows the scene of the assassination of the Syrian security officer. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Syria’s southwestern Daraa continues to witness horrific assassinations and security instability despite the province being subject to settlements dating back to 2018.

Over the last two days, seven killings were reported in Daraa. Civilians, former opposition members and Syrian regime officers were killed in the wave of assassinations.

According to local sources, the perpetrators remain unknown.

“Unidentified individuals opened fire against the car of Maj.Maher Wassouf on Sunday evening,” Horan Free Media Spokesperson Ayman Abu Noqta told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Noqta revealed that Wassouf was the primary security officer responsible for the Nassib border crossing with Jordan.

The gunmen had fired at Wassouf’s vehicle as it was driving on the Damascus - Daraa international highway near the bridge of Sidon town in the eastern countryside of Daraa.

Also, two regime officers were killed and the third was wounded on Sunday morning at a military checkpoint located between the towns of Ain Dhikr - Tasil in the Yarmouk Basin area, west of Daraa.

The two assassinated officers belong to the Fifth Brigade, which deployed in the area to replace the Fourth Brigade after a settlement deal was signed between the governorate and Damascus in 2021.

Last Monday, former opposition member Fadi al-Lubni was also killed by an explosive device planted in his car.

He was killed in the town of Nafaa in the Yarmouk Basin area.

On Sunday evening, unknown persons killed a member of the Eighth Division of the regime’s Fifth Brigade.

Bahjat al-Mahamid, also known as Abu Jarrah, was killed when assailants shot him dead in front of his house in the town of Al-Naima in the eastern countryside of Daraa.



France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
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France to Host Syria Meeting with Arab, Turkish, Western Partners in January

This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)
This aerial view shows people celebrating the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, around the New Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the center of Homs on December 18, 2024. (AFP)

France will host a meeting on Syria with Arab, Turkish, western partners in January, said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Wednesday.

The meeting will be a follow-up to the one held in Jordan last week.

Speaking in parliament, Barrot added that reconstruction aid and the lifting of sanctions in Syria would depend on clear political and security commitments by the new authorities.

The new Syrian transition authorities will not be judged on words, but on actions over time, he stressed.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed that the transition in Syria should be respectful of the rights of all communities in the country, the French presidency said after the leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday.

"They expressed their wish that a peaceful and representative political transition, in accordance with the principles of resolution 2254, respectful of the fundamental rights of all communities in Syria, be conducted as soon as possible," an Elysee statement said, referring to a United Nations Security Council resolution.  

Barrot added that fighting in northeastern Syrian cities of Manbij and Kobane must stop immediately.

France is working to find deal between Turks and Kurds in Syria’s northeast that meets interests of both sides, he revealed.

Macron made clear in his call with Erdogan that Kurdish Syrians needed to be fully-integrated in political transition process, continued the FM.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces must be part of the political transition process, he urged.