Syrian Officer Assassinated Near Separation Line With Israel (Photos)

On January 2, an officer of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) was assassinated near the separation line with the Israeli-occupied al-Golan Heights in southern Syria.

The officer, identified as Lieutenant Colonel Nassib Nejdat Daghman, was killed along one of his soldiers while another was wounded when an explosive device ripped through a pickup truck that was carrying them from the town of Abu Hartin to the nearby village of masirtia in the western Daraa countryside.

Lt. Col. Daghman was reportedly in service with the SAA’s 12^th Brigade. The exact nature of his work in the brigade is unknown.

The assassination may have been carried out by ISIS’s remaining cells in the western countryside of Daraa in response to recent counter-terrorism operations in the governorate, or even by the Israel. Last year the Israeli military dropped leaflets with a direct threat to the personnel of the 112^th Division over the area where the attack took place.

Violence appears to be on the rise in Daraa, with attacks being reported there on a daily basis. On January 3, a civilian was killed when unedified gunmen attack a checkpoint of the SAA near the town of Smiling in the northern countryside of the governorate.

Syrian government forces will have to step up their counter-terrorism operations and improve coordination with local fighters in Daraa in order to improve the security situation there this year.

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