The Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria witnessed a turbulent night on Wednesday, marked by separate incidents that led to deaths, injuries, and prisoners, which exacerbated the security tension in the governorate.
A large number of casualties were recorded in one day, a scene that brought back memories of the escalation events that the region witnessed last July.
There were conflicting stories about who was responsible for violating the truce, as accusations were exchanged between the “National Guard Forces” and the Internal Security Forces, while other sources indicated the possibility of a third party involved in fuel smuggling operations into the governorate.
Local sources in Suwayda reported that a Public Security patrol ambushed a vehicle carrying four people between the villages of Bakka and Burd in the southwestern countryside, killing Suleiman Al-Shaibani and Ayham Naqour on the spot, and wounding two other people.
The sources added that groups of the “National Guard” tried to remove the two bodies and rescue the injured, but they fell into a second ambush, which resulted in the capture of five young men, without additional details about the conditions of captivity.
On the other hand, sources in Daraa reported that the incident began with an attempt by a group of the “National Guard” to infiltrate the areas controlled by the Internal Security, which confronted them, considering this a clear violation of the truce.
A third account linked the incident to gasoline smuggling activity from Daraa to Suwayda, due to the severe fuel shortage within the governorate, which led to the flourishing of this illicit trade.
The National Guard issued a statement accusing the Internal Security Forces of killing two young men while they were working on agricultural lands in the village of Najran, pointing to a dangerous development in the use of weapons, after a residential house was targeted with a Grad missile, which led to the injury of three women.
In a similar context, on Wednesday morning, the city witnessed an arrest campaign at the Al-Matouna checkpoint, targeting a number of civilians without clear reasons, which raised concerns among residents.
Observers warn that this escalation may lead to the collapse of the fragile truce, due to repeated violations and a lack of trust between the parties, in addition to the deterioration of living conditions and the rise in prices, which makes the security situation in Suwayda ready to explode at any moment.
