Syria regime's notorious Fourth Division 'execute three men' attempting to reach Lebanon

The Syrian regime's Fourth Division reportedly executed three civilians on Monday night who allegedly attempted to cross illegally into Lebanon.

The civilians - from the town of Jarajir in the western Qalamoun area of the Damascus countryside - included two young men Zuhair Bakr and Ammar Kabar, alongside Kabar's father, according to Voice of the Capital Damascus-focused news outlet.

"A group of Fourth Division members stationed at one of the border points arrested the three people while trying to cross... and executed them in the field immediately after their arrest," the outlet said.

The regime's elite division is led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's younger brother, Maher, and has strong links to Iran.

Troops then ordered the security branch of the regime's military to remove the bodies from the area, which were transferred to Al-Nabk hospital and handed over to their families.

The families were ordered that no burial or mourning ceremonies should take place for the dead men.

The Fourth Division is backed by Iranian-financed local militias, with Tehran one of the key backers of Assad's regime.

The regime began its brutal crackdown on Syrian civilians when protesters called for reforms, democracy, and freedom in 2011.

An armed uprising, following mass defections in the military, led to one of the most devastating conflicts of the 21st century in which over 500,000 lives have been lost.

More than five million Syrians have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries and an additional six million Syrian civilians have been internally displaced, largely as a result of heavy shelling and bombardment exercised by the Syrian regime and ally Russia.

The regime - who also used chemical weapons against its civilians - took full control of all areas around the capital Damascus in 2018, as the province of Idlib and parts of the Aleppo province remain the only areas in Syria to be held by the Syrian opposition.