Two Syrian regime soldiers shot dead in Daraa checkpoint attack

Two Syrian regime soldiers were killed and a number of others injured Tuesday evening in an attack on a checkpoint in the eastern countryside of Daraa province.

Unknown assailants fired at the post between the town of al-Maliha al-Gharbiyeh and the village of Yazwa with automatic rifles, local activist Mohammed al-Hourani told The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The checkpoint was shared by the regime's 52nd Brigade and Air Force Intelligence, Hourani said.

A commander of the regime's Fourth Division was previously killed in an IED attack in Daraa on Sunday.

Regime forces imposed a two-month long siege on the Daraa al-Balad area of Daraa city in the summer of 2021, after local residents refused to participate in presidential elections.

The elections, which Bashar al-Assad won with 95.1% of the vote were widely condemned as a sham by the Syrian opposition and the international community.

Fighting broke out between opposition fighters and regime forces as a result of the siege.

However, the opposition accepted a new reconciliation agreement with the regime in September, effectively ending local autonomy.

Violence contined after the agreement was signed, with assassination attempts on regime commanders and former rebel fighters still common.

More than 600 people were killed in Daraa in 2021, according to a report by Horan Free League, a localmedia organisation.