Factions in As-Suwayda prevented a military convoy from entering the city on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, forcing the convoy to return to Damascus.
A reporter from Enab Baladi in Daraa stated that the convoy had entered As-Suwayda after coordinating with the commander of the Liwa Ahrar Jabal al-Arab, Suleiman Abdul Baqi. However, other factions in As-Suwayda refused this action due to a lack of coordination with them, as well as the convoy’s nighttime arrival, prompting them to block its entry.
The reporter added that the factions of As-Suwayda prevented the military convoy from entering without any clashes, indicating that local factions demand that the responsibility for maintaining security lies with the people of As-Suwayda, but in coordination with the Damascus government, as they are more familiar with the tribal and social nature of their province.
For his part, a member of the organizing committee in the Leadership of the Popular Uprising in As-Suwayda, Bashar Tarabia, told Enab Baladi that the convoy coming from Damascus included about 35 vehicles, intending to enter the As-Suwayda Police Headquarters to supply the center with some logistical equipment and communication devices in preparation for its activation.
Tarabia added that the factions in As-Suwayda were unaware of the convoy’s arrival, which had coordinated only with one of the sheikhs, leading local residents and factions to prevent the convoy’s entrance, especially since it arrived at night. They asked it to return to Damascus until better coordination could be made for its next visit to As-Suwayda.
The Leadership of the Popular Uprising is a political body in As-Suwayda that aimed to coordinate protests during the previous Assad regime and highlight various violations committed by it along with other service issues.
The Suwayda 24 network reported that there were directives sent to the Joint Operations Room in As-Suwayda regarding the entry of a military convoy into the governorate late at night, without knowledge of its affiliation and without any prior coordination with local factions, which subsequently mobilized and set up checkpoints on the Damascus-As-Suwayda road.
Upon the convoy’s arrival at one of the local factions’ checkpoints in As-Suwayda, it became clear that it belonged to the General Security Service. The official in charge stated that their destination was the Police Headquarters in As-Suwayda.
A source from the Joint Operations Room told Suwayda 24 that “the factions requested that the military convoy return to Damascus and not enter the governorate secretly, especially with ongoing communications between the actors of As-Suwayda and the Military Operations Administration in Damascus to arrange security matters in the province.”
During meetings between political, religious, and social leaders in As-Suwayda and officials from the Damascus government, clear demands were made regarding managing security affairs in the governorate through its own people and reactivating the judicial police and appointing a police chief from As-Suwayda, which government officials agreed to in several meetings, according to Suwayda 24.
Many local factions operate in As-Suwayda, which controlled the security scene in the governorate during the previous Syrian regime, which struggled for years to establish full control over the province.
As-Suwayda has witnessed armed clashes several times coinciding with a deadline set by local factions for the previous regime forces to remove a military checkpoint they established at the northern entrance of the city, in an attempt to assert control over the province.
The Joint Operations Room was established on December 6, 2024, to support the Military Operations Administration that had been advancing from northern Syria towards Damascus.
The Joint Operations Room includes armed factions from the provinces of As-Suwayda, Daraa, Quneitra, and parts of the western rural areas of Damascus.