Former military in Syria's south surrender to transitional gov't

Militia units that were part of the 8th Brigade of the former Syrian army announced their dissolution and surrender to the security forces of the transitional government in Damascus, according to the newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Report informs via TASS.

"The officers and soldiers of the 8th Brigade are handing over all their weapons, headquarters and barracks to the Syrian authorities; they will be subordinate to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic," the publication cites an excerpt from a statement by military spokesman Captain Mohammed al-Qadri.

Earlier, security forces established control over the city of Busra al-Sham (110 km from Damascus) in southern Syria, where shootouts took place in a number of neighborhoods and a curfew was imposed. Sheikhs of local tribes asked Damascus for help and demanded the withdrawal of militias, which had controlled the southern province of Daraa since 2018.

The 8th Brigade of the former Syrian army was once formed from fighters of opposition groups that concluded a local truce with the authorities. The areas under their control were completely autonomous.