Syria’s state-run al-Ikhbariya TV reported on Friday, August 22, that Internal Security forces in Suwayda province (southern Syria) freed a number of kidnapped civilians and handed them over to their families in the presence of Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of Internal Security in the province.

The channel broadcast photos showing women and children among the freed captives but did not specify who the kidnappers were or how the release was secured.

On August 17, a bus carrying civilians (mostly Druze) went missing while traveling from Damascus to Suwayda through the Busra al-Sham humanitarian corridor.

At the time, Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Daraa reported that the kidnapped group included six girls and two young men traveling from Sahnaya (Damascus countryside) to Suwayda through the Busra al-Sham corridor.

The local Suwayda24 network said the civilians, who were kidnapped while traveling on a bus from Sahnaya to Suwayda via Daraa about a week earlier, had been released. It noted that the group included women, children, and men, most of them from the al-Nasr and al-Arar families of Suwayda.

Series of kidnappings

On August 21, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced the release of aid workers kidnapped in eastern Daraa countryside by unknown assailants while transporting humanitarian aid from Jaramana (Damascus countryside) to Suwayda.

The ministry said on its Facebook page that Internal Security forces had freed the kidnapped workers, with the operation overseen by Brigadier General Shaher Imran, head of Internal Security in Daraa, who supervised their transfer to Damascus.

Brigadier General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of Internal Security in Suwayda, received the released captives upon their arrival in Damascus to check on their conditions and oversee their handover to their families.

The kidnapping incident occurred on August 13, when an aid convoy was ambushed in eastern Daraa countryside while transporting supplies from Jaramana to Suwayda. Unknown gunmen attacked the convoy, stole its contents, and kidnapped several aid workers, including Abed Abu Fakhr, Fidaa Azzam, Yamen Mamdouh al-Sahnawi, and Radwan Zaid al-Sahnawi.

The Druze Religious Endowment Committee in Jaramana said in a statement on August 14 that the convoy had departed “after obtaining official permits from the competent government authorities, with the aim of delivering support to our affected people in Suwayda province.”

The statement added that before the convoy reached the Busra al-Sham crossing, it was ambushed by unidentified gunmen who robbed the trucks and detained the drivers and escorts while they were “carrying out their humanitarian duty.”

Humanitarian corridor

A series of security incidents have disrupted the operation of the Busra al-Sham humanitarian corridor, located on the administrative border between Daraa and Suwayda, which was designated for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Suwayda after the deadly events in the province.

The incidents resulted in civilian deaths, vehicle seizures, and abductions, some of which targeted staff members of international organizations.

After the Damascus–Suwayda highway was closed due to battles between government forces and tribal fighters against local factions loyal to Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) opened a humanitarian crossing from the city of Busra al-Sham (administratively part of Daraa). Through it, hundreds of trucks loaded with food, medical supplies, and fuel entered Suwayda.

The Red Crescent, along with the Syrian Civil Defense and Internal Security forces, supervised the evacuation of families from Suwayda through Daraa to Damascus. These included Druze and Christian families, as well as foreign residents of the province.

The measures also facilitated the entry of Suwayda residents living in the Druze-majority suburbs of Jaramana and Sahnaya (Damascus countryside) into the province via the humanitarian corridor.

Security incidents disrupt Busra al-Sham corridor to Suwayda in southern Syria