Former Baath official, relatives killed in southern Syria: reports

A former member of the Syrian Baath Party and a number of his relatives were shot dead on Monday evening in the south of the country, local media reported.

The Horan Free League (HFL) confirmed the death of the ruling party's former secretary in the Daraa province, Kamal Yahya al-Atma, along with four of his relatives.

Unknown assailants targeted a house with automatic weapons in a town north of the province killing five people.

Another person was seriously wounded in a separate attack west of Daraa on Monday, added HFL.

A bomb attack also struck Jisr al-Dahya area in the city of Daraa – the birthplace of Syria’s 2011 uprising – on Monday morning.

Eastern Ghouta and Daraa were previously strongholds of the Syrian opposition, before being captured by the regime in 2018. Daraa province in particular remains restive with frequent assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings.

The Syrian conflict has killed at least half a million and left much of the country in ruins. Millions more have either been internally displaced or have left the country.