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On April 20, a small group of militants attacked police personnel in the town of Athman in the countryside of Syria’s Daraa.
The militants occupied Athman’s center for around an hour before fleeing. While fleeing, the militants took with them three hostages, a civilian and two policemen. The militants released the civilian soon after leaving the town. However, they kept the policemen.
The leader of the militants, identified by Syrian opposition activists as Abu Tariq al-Subayhi, appeared in a video after the attack. In the video, the wanted militant said that the policemen would be released only through a prisoners swap deal with Syrian authorities.
Al-Subayhi is a former commander of a now-defunct Free Syrian Army (FSA) faction that was known as the Saif al-Haq Brigade.
The wanted militant is infamous for his war crimes, which were not limited to government forces. Prior to the 2018 reconciliation agreement, al-Subayhi was jailed by the FSA for murdering a rebel in Athman.
Al-Subayhi’s most hideous crime took place on 4 May 2020, when he and his militants abducted nine policemen from the town of Muzayrib in the western Daraa countryside then executed them.
Former rebels in Daraa believe that al-Subayhi is affiliated with ISIS. This would explain his hostile behavior towards all sides in the governorate.
The attack on Athman highlights the poor security situation in Daraa. Wanted militants like al-Subayhi continue to spread unrest in the governorate. Syrian authorities will have to take decisive action to free the abducted policemen and hold al-Subayhi and his militants accountable.
So many deny to understand, that Assad should not be there at all.