Senior Hezbollah-linked leader assassinated in Southern Syria

Last weekend, an unknown assailant assassinated one of the most prominent leaders of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, Aref Al-Jahmani, in Daraa. They shot and immediately killed him on the Saida-Ghariya road. Hezbollah, a close ally of Syrian President Bachar Assad, has been fighting alongside Iranian-backed forces in Syria since 2013 in a bid to prop up the regime. 

Jahmani is Hezbollah’s first man in Daraa since 2019. He welcomed several Hezbollah and Iranian generals in mid-2019 and called prominent figures in Saida for a meeting to urge the region’s youth to volunteer in the pro-Iranian National Defense Militia. Due to his inclinations and activities, he has been a target of several assassination attempts. 

 

In April, a group of assailants targeted his car in the town of Saida, east of Dara, injuring his shoulder. He was transferred to the Daraa National Hospital for treatment. In addition, Ghazi al-Jahmani and Mahmoud al-Salkhadi, two members of the military security branch were also injured. In April, a group of assailants targeted Jahmani but ended up killing Ayoub al-Shaabin. Shaabin was the second man after Jahmani, he was the commander of the Mohammed bin Abdullah brigade of the Yarmouk Brigade.

 

With the increase in pressure, authorities forced to completely enforced their siege on Daraa after closing all major roads leading to the city centre. This mission comes to parallel the new Russian general in charge of southern Syria, named Assad Allah. He demanded that the central committee of Daraa al-Balad hand over 200 light weapons in exchange for the retreat of pro-regime militias from inside the city’s neighbourhoods. 

 

Several areas in the Daraa countryside have recently witnessed clashes between the authority forces and unidentified gunmen who targeted checkpoints belonging to the security and military services of the regime, which launched raids and arrests in various areas of Daraa.