Syrian Pro-Government Forces In Al-Suwayda Neutralized US-Affiliated Faction & Killed Its Leader

Syrian pro-government forces in the governorate of al-Suwayda have neutralized an armed faction that worked with the US-led coalition.

On June 8, pro-government forces, with alleged support from the General Intelligence Directorate (GID), launched a special operation to neutralize the faction, known as the Counter Terrorism Force (CTU).

The CTU was established in July of last year by Samir al-Hakim, supposedly to counter terrorists and drug traffickers in al-Suwayda. The faction also established a political wing called the Al Liwa Party. Syrian journalist Malik Abu Khair, who is based in France, was reportedly the mastermind behind the faction.

The armed faction, who presented itself as a pro-democratic force, bragged about coordinating and cooperating with US-led coalition forces in the nearby al-Tanf garrison. With alleged support from the coalition, the faction recruited hundreds of local militants, set up a headquarters and training camps in the town of Khazme in the southeastern countryside of al-Suwayda and began conducting operations against what he claimed to be terrorists and drug traffickers working with Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Over the past year, the CTU abducted, tortured and in at least one case killed civilians. Very recently, the faction announced that it had handed over a local man he accused of cooperating with Hezbollah to US-led coalition forces in al-Tanf.

https://southfront.org/syrian-pro-government-forces-in-al-suwayda-neutralized-us-affiliated-faction-killed-its-leader/