Nearly 11 months since the fall of the regime, simmering insecurity and uncontrolled weapons continue to destabilize communities and claim lives in Syria’s southern Daraa province.
Weapons have spread across Suwayda, many in the hands of civilians who took them from the former regime’s military and security sites when the army fled the Druze-majority southern province one day before Assad fell.
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.
