Fighters in southern Syria who played a key role in toppling President Bashar al-Assad are resisting the new government’s call to disarm, according to a spokesman from the Southern Operations Room. Despite the new Islamist leadership’s December 25 order for all rebel factions to dissolve and integrate under the defense ministry, the group’s spokesman, Naseem Abu Orra, stated they are unwilling to comply. The Southern Operations Room, led by Ahmed Al-Awdeh, claims to be a well-organized force composed of defected officers and thousands of fighters without Islamist affiliations.
Abu Orra emphasized the group’s preference for integrating as a structured unit rather than dissolving, citing their heavy weaponry and organizational capacity. Daraa, where the group is based, was a focal point of the 2011 uprising against Assad’s rule and saw rebels retain weapons under a 2018 Russia-mediated deal.
The group’s reluctance arises amid Syria’s ongoing power shift after Assad fled the country in early December, with an Islamist coalition, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), seizing major cities and advancing towards the capital. The Southern Operations Room had coordinated with HTS but maintained independent operations in Daraa, briefly controlling strategic locations in Damascus before withdrawing.
While other rebel factions agreed to disband under the new leadership, Awdeh declined to attend a key December 25 meeting, leaving his group’s future role in Syria uncertain.
Daraa, armed groups, Bashar al-Assad, Ahmed Al-Awdeh, HTS, conflict, Middle East, geopolitics