Analysis: Daraya surrender a morale boost for Syrian army

The fall of the Damascus suburb of Daraya was a major moral and strategic gain for the Syrian government and army.

One of the earliest suburbs to mount protests in 2011, Daraya became an icon for rebels and civilian opponents of the government. Consequently, its capitulation provided a morale boost to Syria’s undermanned and overstretched army.

Daraya was iconic because it was known for activism as early as 1998. At that time, Abdul Akram al-Sakka, a local preacher, founded Daraya Youth, which, initially, adopted non-violence and sought to resolve problems with sanitation and promote culture.

In 2005, 250 political reformers signed the Damascus Declaration calling for reform and dialogue. But among the signatories was the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood which had waged a bloody campaign against the government from 1979-1982.

Red flag

For the government its signature was a red flag. When protests erupted in 2011, the government clamped down hard, particularly in areas where Muslim activism was involved.

Daraya’s capture was a key strategic advance. It was the last of the suburbs in the capital’s western countryside to opt for “truce and reconciliation”, a programme pursued by the government to end the rebellion city by city, town by town, village by village.

Scores have chosen this little-publicised route, a few have gone with UN-sponsored evacuations such as the high-profile operation carried out at the Old City of Homs in May 2014.

Daraya embraces a wide expanse of territory near the West Mezze military air base and the upmarket Kafr Sousse neighbourhood which houses the prime minister’s office complex. It is also located on the edge of the fruit orchards and vegetable gardens that once fed Damascus and for most of the four-year siege sustained its civilians.

Daraya abuts the suburb of Muadamiya which had agreed to an uneasy truce in 2014 but provided aid, weapons and fighters for the hold-outs in Daraya.

Appeal for truce

The 700-odd fighters in Daraya remained until they had no choice but to surrender. A group of women appealed for a truce after the army had seized control of 70 per cent of Daraya, cut access to the countryside and Muadamiya, creating acute food shortages, and put the sole hospital out of action.

Convoys of buses carried the fighters, with side arms, and their families to the northwestern province of Idlib held by Jaish al-Fatah, dominated by radical jihadis, ex-al-Qaeda Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent evacuated about 3,200 civilians from the area to a prefab reception centre 20km southeast of Daraya.

An undisclosed number of fighters requested amnesty and have been taken to a facility for investigation. This procedure followed the model adopted for the evacuation of Homs Old City to which civilians have returned and are rebuilding.

Daraya's fighters, attached to the Martyrs of Islam and Islamic Union brigades, who chose to go to Idlib, are likely to be called upon to defend Jaish al-Fatah's grip on the province and, perhaps, take part in the battle for Aleppo.