Local sources assured STJ that 14 civilians were arrested and 1 executed by the Syrian regular forces during May and June 2018, near Tell Sultan crossing east of Idlib Governorate, while returning from areas of displacement west of Idlib to their villages in the east, which were retook by the Regime as a result of the recent military operation[1] that ended in the latter’s full control over the eastern countryside of Idlib, after the withdrawal of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham/HTS along with the Free Syrian Army factions.
The local activist, "Manahi al-Ahmed", residing in Idlib countryside, told STJ on June 8, 2018 that the Syrian regular forces summarily executed the young man "Zuaid al- Mutaib", from al-Nasiriyah village, for resisting the agents while trying to arrest him at a checkpoint near the Tell Sultan crossing. The Regime forces also arrested 11 other youths and recruited them into their armed forces. Al-Ahmed stated that there were relatives of regime agents among the arrested besides a 40-year-old man who was recruited into the Regime’s reserve forces.
Three men wanted by security branches were also arrested and taken to an unknown destination. The activist said that he had obtained information from several people residing in Regime areas and from detainees’ relatives. Some of the arrested were identified who are; (Eid al-Thalji from al-Musakar village, Fahad Nasser al-Hudaidi from al- al-Mraïjeb village, Fahad Shehathah al-Muhammad from al-Mashhad villsage, Muhammad Faisal al-Omar from Eastern Van village, Ahmed Nayef from Abu-Hayah village, Ra’ad Omar al-Doukhi from Northern Van village.)
Several air intelligence checkpoints were erected by Regime forces behind those of the Russian Military Forces overseeing the Tell Sultan crossing, which was inaugurated on March 4, 2018, for searching civilians and arresting those wanted by the Regime forces, according to the activist.
For his part, the representative of local councils of Idlib eastern countryside, Rayan al-Ahmed, said in an interview with STJ on June 8, 2018, that all detainees had not regularized their status (reconciled with the Regime), and that some of them had returned to the area on the basis of promises made by their relatives, serving in the Regime forces, to not to be arrested or harassed.
The representative of the local councils added that the Regime forces used to gather the returnees in schools to search them and collect their personal data. It also used to confiscate their vehicles and livestock, so that they had to pay fines and bribes to restore them. However, some confiscations have not been restored despite the payment of fines.
The Syrian regular forces have earlier arrested civilians in areas they have recently took control over, where STJ has prepared a report on the arrest of 20 civilians, including elderly, in Yarmouk Camp, Damascus, on May 23, 2018.
[1] The Regime forces alongside Russian forces carried out a military campaign against the eastern countryside of Idlib Governorate, and managed to control the area known as "east of the railway" eventually. The campaign lasted from mid-December 2017 to early March 2018, when the Russian Military Forces inaugurated the crossing of Tell Sultan, following the withdrawal of HTS and military factions from the entire region.