Syria’s Ministry of Defense is meeting with military factions in Syria’s southern Daraa province—including the 8th Brigade—as it works to integrate them into a new army.
For several months, local armed groups in Daraa have resorted to a strategy often used in neighboring Suwayda province: taking hostages and besieging regime security headquarters to force the release of detainees when attempts at civil mediation fail.
After each blow to the Islamic State in southern Syria inflicted by former opposition factions, the group simply reshuffles its ranks and reactivates its cells. How does IS regenerate itself, what is its future in the south and what is the regime’s relationship with it?
