The repercussions of the opposition’s loss of its positions in Eastern Ghouta are yet throwing their shadows on the scene in Southern Syria; the area’s factions are, accordingly, facing a popular campaign of accusations for their disappointing attitude and abstinence from providing military support; other accusations centralized on their surrender to international orders that prevented them from conducting any attacks against Assad’s forces.   

To the day, the campaign that activists and civilians are launching is still shy, for it started with closing roads with burnt tires and demands of restructuring the factions, as well as isolating their current leaders, amidst sharper calls on social media platforms.

Two Opposition Streams in Southern Syria

Adham al-Krad, commander of the engineering and missile battalion and leader in the operations room of the ” Al-Bunyan Al-Marsoos” has, through his “Facebook,” classified the opposition factions to two streams. The first is defiant to the will of foreign countries, and the second which believes in these countries’ offered reassurance in relation to the neutralization of the southern area from the war.  The second stream has succeeded in imposing its opinion and managed to disrupt the military action, which was planned to be launched during the past weeks against Assad’s forces positions.

The leader of the “Lions of Sunna Brigade” Mohammad al-Mahameed, explained that the external effect had a massive impact on the scene in the southern area, adding that “the countries have attained what they were seeking,” attributing the responsibility of what happened to the internal decision.

He also called the military factions to face what he described as a “conspiracy,” which is at its peak today according to him, saying “I invite you, me included, to join forces and refuse dependency, agendas and affiliation that have the ability to create a rift in our forces, as well as to expel any element, whose top priority is not the national interest and the revolution’s victory.”

In the same context, Shaikh Fisal Aba zaid, a sovereign personality in the city of Daraa, has questioned the opposition factions which own a massive military power and that are accused of hindering the military action, saying that “if the weapons stored by the factions were a personal possession, we cannot argue about them, but if they belong to the revolution, no one has the right to hide them from the revolution and the revolutionaries. We hope that the leaders would understand this.”

The Shaihk has implored to the faction’s leaders as “not to hold on to external gestures”, pointing to the reassurances which many countries have expressed concerning the military neutralization of the southern area, adding that “the factions’ leaders do still believe the gestures of the sponsors, the reason why they are hindering any operations against Assad’s forces.”

According to Aba Zaid, “these leaders have forgotten that the leaders of al-Rahman Legion and the Army (the factions of Eastern Ghouta) have filled their pockets and bellies through these gestures, which in the end did not protect them,” pointing out to the same reassurances which the Ghouta factions have been receiving that did not prevent Russia-backed Assad’s forces from conducting the huge military operation, which ended with their control over Ghouta lately.

 

 “Ahrar al-Sham” Proposes Four Solutions

A leader and a cleric in Ahrar Al-Sham Movement, in Southern Syria, Abu Thabet al-Kafari, for his part, started searching for solutions and demanded fours steps that “represent the current phase’s priorities in Horan under the existing circumstances.”

Through his Telegram account, al-Kafari believes that a unified army with a unified military leadership that has the needed capabilities and an internal decision is the first step to overcome the phase, to be followed with a new strong court to, supported with army, spread safety and security, as well as punish corruption and fight the regime’s and ISIS’ agents and the “reconciliations godfathers”, according to what he has published, pointing to the failure of the Dar al-Adel Court in Horan.

Al-Kafari said that “developing the fronts at the regime’s lines, in addition to a military attack on ISIS, cleaning the area and liberating it are the complementary steps of the solution.”

Between the catch and release state of affairs and the exchanged accusations, the only truth that we cannot change is that Ghouta is now controlled by Assad’s forces and that throughout the two months campaign which the forces have launched against Ghouta, the factions were satisfied by promoting for the battles on social media platforms without on ground actual action. Today, the same platforms have been turned into a space were accusations are being directed at the factions’ leaders, and it is not yet clear if these attacks will stick to the virtual world or would be transferred to the on-ground reality.