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On February 23, four officers of the General Intelligence Directorate were wounded when their armored vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) in the southern Syrian governorate of Daraa.
The IED attack took place on a road between the towns of Jasim and Inkhil in the northern countryside of Daraa. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, so far.
Earlier this week, a prominent supporter of the Damascus government was assassinated in Daraa city with a magnetic IED that was planted under his vehicle. In a separate incident, Syrian security forces uncovered a vehicle booby-trapped with more than 100 kg of explosives in the southern city.
ISIS was likely behind most, if not all recent terrorist attacks in Daraa. The terrorist group maintains a strong influence in the city as well as in the countryside of the governorate.
Despite an uptake in terrorist attacks in Daraa, not a single counter-terrorism operation by government forces or local fighters were reported in the recent weeks.
Overall, the security situation in Daraa remains unstable. ISIS is still the number one threat in the governorate. Serious efforts are needed to fully unroot the terrorist group from Daraa and the rest of Syria’s southern region. This could take multiple years.
