DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The Syrian army has entered the town of al-Yadudah in the southern province of Dara’a after 10 years following an agreement with local tribal elders brokered by Russia, reports said on Monday.
Syrian military officials were accompanied by Russian forces as they made their way to the southern Syrian town previously held by foreign-backed terrorits, al-Mayadeen television reported.
After the Syrian army entered the town on Monday, a center was set up for the formal handover of weapons and control of the town, under the supervision of Russian military officials and tribal elders.
The troops have set up checkpoints for the terrorists still refusing to implement the Russian-negotiated agreement that went into effect last week, ending weeks of intense fighting.
On Sunday, following the mediation of Russia, an agreement was reached with tribal elders in the town, which required the armed groups in al-Yadudah to surrender their weapons to the Syrian army and hand over control of the town to the government in Damascus in return for amnesty.
It comes days after people started arriving in the town of Dara’a al-Balad as authorities removed roadblocks and opened roads while bomb squads combed areas previously held by terrorists.
The strategic area in the city of Dara’a came under full control of the Syrian army last week.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Dara’a province as a result of foreign-backed militancy stands at 38,600, including 15,000 women and over 20,400 children.
The Syrian army units also raised the national flag in al-Arbaeen neighborhood, within the framework of a truce agreement last month.
The government’s full control over Dara’a is significant because it borders the occupied Golan Heights, where the Zionist regime has armed terrorists fighting against the Syrian government since 2011.
The territory’s return to government control could cut the much-reported collaboration between the occupying regime and terrorists and deal a blow to Tel Aviv’s plans to annex the Golan Heights.