HTS Breaks De-Escalation Agreement, Kills 6 Civilians In Southern Syria. Syrian Army Responds

On November 23, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters ambushed a bus carrying college students around the Druze Harran village in the western al-Suwayda countryside, according to Syrian pro-government sources.

The sources said that 6 students were executed by HTS fighters during the ambush. The SAA responded to the attack immediately and killed 17 of the attackers, according to the sources.

Photos of HTS fighters executing the civilians were published by Syrian activists.

The attack is violation of the Russian-American ceasefire agreement that covers the entire south of Syria. Local sources said that Harran village had been attacked several times since the ceasefire agreement was reached on July 9. Harran is usually attacked from Bosra town south of it.

Bosra -9a Shiite town) was captured by the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) group “Southern Front” on March 25, 2015. As in many other cases, the Southern Front allowed HTS to enter Bosra and to operate from it.

The HTS influence in southern Syria grew dramatically during the last two years. However, unlike in Idlib governorate, HTS got the full support of all FSA groups in southern Syria. HTS and its FSA allies are even still receiving weapons and ammunition from the US-led Military Operation Center (MOC) in Jordan, according to pro-government sources.