Enab Baladi – Mowaffak al-Khouja
Assassination incidents in Syria have increased following the fall of the previous Syrian regime, for various reasons and by different parties, some of which are known and relate to political or social positions, while others remain unexplained and unrecognized.
It is noteworthy that motorcycles have been used in assassination incidents, raising questions about their advantages and the reasons for their use, as well as government plans to curb them.
Assassinations have not been confined to a specific geographic area in Syria; however, they have intensified in the city of Daraa in the south of the country for the reasons mentioned, amid signs pointing to Iranian involvement or the previous regime.
20 incidents in Daraa in June
According to an Enab Baladi correspondent in Daraa, the city witnessed repeated assassination incidents before the fall of the previous regime, with some months reaching an average of 50 incidents in one month.
In the initial months following the regime’s fall, the rate of assassinations decreased, but it has recently surged, with the correspondent monitoring approximately 20 incidents, including both attempts and executions, since the beginning of June, most of which targeted leaders and activists.
The local Horan Free Media network documented in a report published at the beginning of last April, 32 operations, including attempts and executions of assassination, between January and March, resulting in 25 fatalities, in addition to 11 others injured, noting that seven individuals survived assassination attempts.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent pointed out that the assassination operations targeted a variety of figures, including members of the General Security Service, former members of the Central Committee, and activists.
Some of these incidents occurred due to factional conflicts, which had produced, up until the report’s publication on June 20, deaths including the former leaders Thayer al-Taybaoui and his brother Khaled al-Taybaoui, as well as another individual in the town of Tafas in western Daraa.
The Horan Free Media noted that the assassination victims documented in their report during the first quarter of the current year included 12 civilians, among them a defector diplomat, referring to Nour al-Din al-Labad, a village chief, and a party branch secretary.
It also documented the killings of 13 non-civilians during the reporting period, including four elements affiliated with the leader Mohsen al-Heimed, three elements belonging to the former Eighth Brigade, two individuals from independent local groups, a former member of the Syrian National Army, and the officer in charge of the Sheikh Miskeen police station following the regime’s fall.
In addition to these, unidentified assailants assassinated a former member who collaborated with the state security apparatus of the previous regime and a former member who previously worked with Hezbollah, according to the Horan Free Media documentation.
Other statistics indicate that more than 500 assassination cases have occurred across Syria since the fall of the previous regime.
Why motorcycles?
Enab Baladi’s correspondent noted that most assassination cases have been carried out using motorcycles, according to observations over the past years.
According to the correspondent, most operations executed by motorcycles usually involve two people – the driver and the executor – who quickly withdraw, and in most cases, the perpetrators are masked to conceal their identities.
Many residents of Daraa and rural areas in Syria use motorcycles due to the agricultural nature of these regions; they facilitate movement, aid in quick disappearances, and are difficult for security agencies to distinguish due to the similarity between motorcycles, especially unregistered ones, unlike other vehicles such as cars.
Motorcycles have also been used by groups for bombing and detonating due to their lower cost compared to cars and their inconspicuousness, as they can be parked anywhere without taking up much space.
Researcher Rashid Hourani from the Jusoor for Studies Center stated that groups conducting assassinations in the region have utilized motorcycles for their ease of movement and ability to escape in areas where they are well-acquainted with the routes.
Who is executing in Daraa?
Researcher Rashid Hourani mentioned that Iranian militias have managed to recruit many collaborators and affiliates of the Fourth Division in southern Syria, which used to be under the command of Maher al-Assad, the brother of former president Bashar al-Assad.
He added to Enab Baladi that they provided them with open support, especially after the settlement agreement in 2018, due to the inability to extinguish the fire of the revolution despite the settlement.
After the fall of the previous regime, these individuals were affected and entered a phase of dormancy, but over time and in light of the weakness of the security services due to their recent formation, they began their operations fitting the prevailing atmosphere, despite their inability to reveal their identities.
Multiple parties and reasons
The use of motorcycles in carrying out attacks and assassinations is not confined to a specific party nor a certain area, as the reasons vary between political and social motives for revenge.
The various motivations and targets behind the assassinations indicate the involvement of other groups, from those opposing the previous regime to parties executing Iranian agendas in Syria.
In the village of Ma’ariya west of Daraa, two unidentified masked gunmen attacked a position where the Israeli army was present in the island area, using a motorcycle, on June 8, according to reports at the time.
Iranian-aligned groups, particularly the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria (Awli al-Baas), have claimed to conduct operations against Israeli presence in Syria.
On the other hand, in Aleppo in northern Syria, two masked assailants on a motorcycle killed six members of the Mido family during a gathering in Sheikh Saeed neighborhood.
Mohammad al-Saeed, the media office director at the General Security Service in Aleppo, previously suggested to Enab Baladi that the incident was politically motivated due to the victims’ pro-regime stance, noting that the General Security had not yet obtained solid information about the motives behind the killing.
In Azaz in northern Aleppo, three individuals were killed and another injured in a shooting at a car sales office by two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle.
Abdul Qadir Haj Othman, a media relations member in Aleppo governorate, stated to Enab Baladi that sources among the victims’ relatives speculated that the incident was socially motivated, without clarifying further, denying that it was politically driven.
What the government should do
Researcher Hourani stated that security agencies should track all violations conducted by the previous regime through its devices, reaching out to collaborators and monitoring their movements.
He pointed out the existence of vendettas due to financial problems and issues among community members, emphasizing that security agencies must address all social grievances that have arisen over the past years and work to resolve them.
He added that security agencies could carry out several actions, such as intensifying patrols, registering motorcycles, and only allowing them to be ridden with a specific license, in addition to conducting security studies on suspected individuals.
Enab Baladi sent questions to the Ministry of Interior regarding its plans to curb assassination operations carried out via motorcycles, but received no response by the time of the report’s publication.
Motorcycles… from a means of transport to a tool for killing Enab Baladi.
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