Saturday morning the Assad forces threatened the residents of Umm Batina to evacuate or it would storm it and forcibly displace its residents, giving them a deadline until 2 pm that day.
According to activists in the region, the Assad forces were shelling the town with mortars from their positions in the town of Tal Al-Shaar, which resulted in a number of civilian injuries.
According to the “Horan Free Assembly” website, late Friday evening, unidentified individuals attacked a military checkpoint of the regime forces near the town of Umm Batina, resulting in several casualties and injuries.
Activists deny that any of the townspeople had carried out the attack, and said that this a deception by Assad’s regime in order to find an excuse to storm the villages and towns and take over full control.
Sham For Studies said as of Sunday that a Russian delegation entered the town of Umm Batna, to meet with the town’s notables and discuss recent events.
The town of Umm Batina, located in the Quneitra governate, with a current population of about 5000, accepted the reconciliation agreement with the Syrian regime in July 2018. Which allowed for the return of the Syrian Arab Army to its military points it was in before 2011, and the deportation of those that rejected the reconciliation towards Idlib, while regulating the affairs of those who wished to stay.
Even though many of these areas were forced to agree on reconciling with the regime. Since the agreement came into effect these areas have witnessed attacks targeting regime soldiers and those that reconciled with the regime. The neighboring governate to Quneitra, Daraa has witnessed major security issues, including assassinations and IED’s. During the past month of April alone, the governate has witnessed more than 29 assassination attempts, which led to the death of 20 individuals and injury of 25 others.
On Saturday, 6 towns in Daraa have released a statement declaring their solidarity with the people of Umm Batina.
The regime plans to storm the villages and implementing its threat if the negotiations fail. As such, both governorates, Daraa and Quneitra, will certainly witness an escalation between both parties.
