Daraa security forces plagued by vendettas, abuse and controversial recruits

PARIS — Syrian authorities dismissed at least 200 security personnel in Daraa on Wednesday, citing “behavior violations and misconduct.” The firings came in the wake of a number of violations and abuses committed by members of the General Security Service (Internal Security) in the southern province in recent weeks. 

Troubling incidents included killings and the abuse of corpses, as well as the involvement of security personnel in blood feuds and personal vendettas—some involving other members of local security forces. 

On June 25, a high-level security meeting was held to discuss violations and “outlaw activity,” attended by the Daraa head of internal security, military police and defense ministry officials. 

Recent weeks have also seen broad public anger in Daraa towards the inclusion of controversial figures—former Islamic State (IS) affiliates, former regime personnel and accused drug traffickers and robbers—in local security forces and the new Syrian army. 

Blood feuds within general security

On June 20, two former opposition commanders—brothers Thaer and Khaled al-Zoubi—were killed along with a third young man, Muhammad Nour al-Zoubi, during clashes with gunmen from the same extended family in the western Daraa city of Tafas. The violence stemmed from an old blood feud that has led to the killing of more than 30 people to date, one clan notable from the city told Syria Direct.

While such revenge killings are not uncommon in Daraa, it is noteworthy that both sides of the June 20 clashes were members of the general security services under the new Syrian government’s Ministry of Interior. All joined several months ago as Damascus worked to integrate local armed groups and factions into its defense and interior ministries. 

Two sources from Tafas said the general security detachment in the city—through its leader and a number of personnel—were directly involved in the incident using their authority. 

“The state is responsible for what happened,” one media activist from Tafas familiar with the details of the June 20 killings said. Not long after Daraa’s “liberation [from the Assad regime], one of Thaer al-Zoubi’s brothers—a civilian who had nothing to do with the feud—was killed by the same group that [later] killed Thaer and his brother.” 

At the time, forces from general security and the ministry of defense intervened to break up the fighting and solve the problem, accompanied by the governor of Daraa and a number of security and military leaders. 

But over the months that followed, “the state took no action to hold the killers accountable or conclude a clan reconciliation process [sulh] that would put an end to the complex feud,” the activist told Syria Direct on condition of anonymity for security reasons. 

With the June 20 killings, “the problem became more complex, and the state became a party to it, after the head of general security in western Daraa and the head of the Tafas detachment became involved,” the Tafas notable told Syria Direct. He said he had “proof and photo documentation confirming their involvement.” 

“Security officers abused the bodies, stepped on them and took pictures with them, in a brutal scene,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the “sensitivity of the situation.” The notable accused general security forces of executing the third man killed on June 20—Muhammad Nour al-Zoubi—after he was turned over to them to be taken to a hospital in Daraa city to be treated for injuries sustained in the clashes. 

At the time of reporting, the men involved in the killings remained at their posts in general security in Tafas, and had not been arrested or referred for investigation, according to three sources in the city. It is not clear whether they were among those dismissed on July 2. 

“It is natural to see such cases, given the indiscriminate recruitment of [general security] personnel, and the absence of qualified, trained and disciplined members in a tribal area where blood feuds abound after many years of war,” a defected regime officer living in northern Daraa told Syria Direct on condition of anonymity. 

“Blood feuds and personal disputes have begun to enter civil and military institutions, making the state a party to them. There have been repeated incidents of personnel exploiting their security and military functions for personal disagreements,” the defected officer added. This calls for “laws and regulations that regulate security work and personnel, in addition to activating strict accountability mechanisms,” he said.

Read more: Clan conflicts in Syria: Seeds of revenge grow under the ashes amid attempts to renew customary law

A sample of comments on social media in which residents express anger and ridicule the presence of controversial figures in the General Security Service in Syria’s southern Daraa province (Facebook/Syria Direct)

‘Behind the lines’ 

In Daraa, the term “behind the lines” refers to personnel who coordinated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) before the Assad regime was toppled last December. 

Syria Direct reported the reemergence of HTS in Daraa in May 2024, six years after the faction pulled out of the southern province and seven months before the Idlib-based faction would spearhead an offensive that ended Assad’s rule. 

At the time, a researcher focused on Islamist groups referred to a part of the HTS security system known as “the Behind the Lines Branch,” tasked with gathering information behind enemy lines. He told Syria Direct its presence in southern Syria at the time could be “within this framework.” 

For Daraa residents, particularly in the western countryside, “behind the lines” is a term that has become a source of anger and resentment, as past coordination with HTS now serves as a gateway into the security and military institutions of the new state. 

According to local sources, those who have passed through this gateway include former IS members, highway robbers and figures previously affiliated with regime-backed forces in Daraa. 

When general security began recruiting in Daraa, many local IS groups that were previously part of Jaish Khaled bin al-Waleed (JKW)—a faction in western Daraa’s Yarmouk Basin region that pledged allegiance to IS and included local fighters—joined up, the media activist from Tafas said. 

Several sources provided Syria Direct with the names of commanders of local IS and former regime groups who are now working with general security. The names were corroborated by multiple accounts, indicating that there are widespread local accusations against them. Syria Direct is refraining from publishing these names, given the difficulty of verifying the truth of their involvement. 

“You feel that recruitment is being done arbitrarily, or without vetting,” while “there are thousands of local residents who applied and were rejected,” the activist said. “On what grounds were IS members, [regime] remnants and thugs accepted?” 

“The phrase ‘behind the lines’ has become infamous. Most of those it applies to are bandits, regime remnants and IS—in other words, people who had dual loyalties, and who today are harming us and the state,” he added. “What is the public interest in appointing them?” 

“Many IS members in the Yarmouk Basin pledged allegiance to HTS after signing the [2018] settlement, and became part of what is known as ‘behind the lines,’” a media source close to the Central Committee in the western Daraa countryside said, on condition of anonymity. The central committee was formed after the 2018 settlement agreement to negotiate with the Assad regime and administer the area. 

“What happened before fell away, in the eyes of HTS and the new Syrian administration, as though ‘behind the lines’ cancels out what came before,” he added. “I know many individuals, including relatives of mine, who have criminal records and today are in general security, either thanks to random recruitment, a recommendation from HTS leadership or [involvement] behind the lines.”

In Daraa city, the situation appears somewhat better, but it too has “personnel who the forces coming from Idlib—which have taken the reins—consider to be part of the ‘behind the lines’ group,” a journalist from the city told Syria Direct. “They are mostly controversial figures in the community.” 

One such figure “worked with the al-Kasem militia loyal to the defunct regime, and participated in the storming of Daraa al-Balad in 2021 by regime forces,” he added. He joined general security because “his brother was in HTS in Idlib,” which “angered people in Daraa.”

‘Complete marginalization’

To manage security in Daraa, Syria’s new administration has primarily relied on local fighters who were displaced to the north in 2018 and returned following the fall of Assad. 

“Loyalty is the basis of selection, not expertise,” the defected officer from northern Daraa said. “This amounts to a complete marginalization of local forces—defected officers and revolutionary leaders in Daraa who refused displacement to the north and preferred to stay and resist the regime over the past years.” 

“The new government has tried to attract some defected officers and commanders from outside HTS, but to work under the supervision of personnel whose only experience and qualifications are being from HTS,” he added. This approach “is something many may reject.” 

Meanwhile, the door was opened to “abusive elements accused of committing violations, and those with vendettas, to join security institutions,” the defected officer said. 

“Some of the new commanders are dealing with Daraa with the logic of HTS, not the state. Some are trying to settle scores with the central committee, whose leadership has been completely marginalized,” he added. There are “disputes between central committee leadership, which used to manage the area, and HTS leadership and IS elements who received a number of security detachments.” 

“Over the past years of administering the area, the central committee made a lot of enemies among drug traffickers, thieves and IS, who it worked to hold accountable and pursue,” the source close to the central committee said. “The problem today is that most of them are in security, which is dangerous and portends a lot of bloodshed.” 

The Daraa city journalist argued that repeated incidents targeting revolution commanders in Daraa, such as “raiding and searching their homes, assaulting them and marginalizing them” point to “deeper motives involving groups and individuals affiliated with internal security who are acting out of revenge.” 

The complex problems within general security, and the presence of “bad” figures, deter “honorable personnel and true sons of the country from volunteering in general security to avoid clashing with thugs and criminals,” the notable from Tafas said. He called on Damascus to “cleanse the security and military services of abusive elements and hold them accountable.” 

Declining security

Civilians in Daraa have reported repeated incidents of abuse and misconduct by security personnel during raids and searches, as well as in routine interactions. 

In early June, residents of al-Ajami complained of thefts, looting, property destruction and vandalism by general security forces conducting search operations in the western Daraa town. 

“What happened in al-Ajami, the intimidation [tashbih] of the people while pursuing a wanted individual, is a serious matter,” the media activist in Tafas said. “General security must provide a real alternative for people, not act the same as the groups they are pursuing.” 

“There are many mistakes and abuses by general security, and the response is always that they are individual actions,” he added. “The perpetrators of these mistakes must be held accountable, so they do not become systemic.”

“Days ago, someone from general security who was a former commander with the central committee was arrested following personal complaints against him by residents,” the activist recalled. “He was held for several hours, but was released after local leadership intervened and mediated on his behalf.” 

Impunity and a lack of accountability will “lead to the repetition of individual incidents, and the use of state power to settle personal scores, sending the area sliding into a dangerous, bloody quagmire,” the defected officer warned.

“Security has deteriorated in Daraa due to rivalries and disputes among security personnel who have different or conflicting backgrounds,” the source close to the central committee said. “The government must separate these personnel and reassign them outside the province after conducting training, rehabilitation and holding criminals accountable.” 

This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.