At least 25 young men were arrested by the Syrian regular forces for unknown reasons in al-Lajat area located in Daraa province south of Syria, in breaching to the "surrender deal" reached between Syrian regular forces and opposition factions on two stages. One of the items of the deal provided that the Syrian regular forces will not enter the villages prior the Russian military police without "settlement" procedures, in addition to they will not harass any resident, STJ's field researcher in Daraa said.
On August 2, 2018, elements of the Air Force Intelligence along with others of the Tiger Forces (Suheil al-Hasan Forces) affiliated with the Syrian regular army arrested 25 young men for anonymous reasons. Some of the arrested persons are defectors of the Syrian army, and they are from villages of Qirata, al-Masmiyah, al-Boyer, Asem, Sour, al-Roweisat. STJ's field researcher said, adding that all these villages have yet to conclude the "settlement" i.e. reconciliation and settlement of the young men status.
The arrested persons are Bassam Eid Hajaj, Barakat Hamed Midan, Ahmad Sa'ad al-Ali, Suleiman Sa'ad al-Ali, Othman Ibrahim al-Ko'aeb, Salim Soud al-Salim, Abdulfatah Ghazi Rja, Hussein Fahad Awed, Mohammed Moshref Awed, Bassam Adwai Awed, Mohammed Yasser Hamad, Mohammed Hamad Marouh, Tariq Mohammed Mukhammas, Abdussalam Mohammed Mukhammas, Omar Faza'a, Sultan Faza'a, Ali Faza'a, Ahmad Faza'a, Mohammed Faza'a, Hamza Mashhour Ali, Mohammed Defallah Dabel, Abdo Ayed Eifan, Imad Abdo Ayed, Fouad Abdo Ayed, Hamza Hayel Sultan.
A local source from al-Mejedl village said in an interview with STJ that the regular forces are searching the villages for weapons, and since al-Lajat area is rugged with lots of caves, so it is appropriate to hide in. Other sources reported the arrest of numbers of detainees was high and estimated 80 young men.
The Syrian regular forces and their allies could control the entire province of Daraa after it concluded stages of negotiations with the opposition factions and reached a surrender deal in July 2018. The first stage of negotiations included the north countryside and al-Lajat area, and the second stage included the rest of the province except Hawd al-Yarmouk (basin), which the regime could control it recently by the help of the Reserve Forces "al-Quwat al-Radifa". The negotiations were conjunctional with violations of the ceasefire by the Syrian regular forces as they shelled civilian areas and caused the death and the injury of dozens. STJ published detailed reports on the incidents.