On July 17, 2024, a boy, identified as 16-year-old Nour Mohammad al-Khlief from Tafas city in western rural Daraa governorate, was killed, while a man named Omar al-Zu’bi also from Tafas city was injured, by gunmen we have not yet been able to identify. The two were shot by the unidentified gunmen while they were on a motorbike in their home city. The area is under the control of Syrian regime forces.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Nour was a civilian who had never been involved with any military formation. Omar, however, was a member of armed opposition factions in Daraa before regime forces took control of the city in July 2018, at which time he agreed to settle his security situation with the Syrian regime. He has completely retired from military life ever since living a civilian life until his death.
SNHR is still trying to locate eyewitnesses to obtain more information about the incident.
We call on the controlling forces to uphold their responsibilities for protecting civilians in their areas, to investigate this incident, and to make the investigation’s findings known to the public. Syria will never have true stability without a genuine political transition process towards democracy within a fixed timetable.
