After the announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey which came into effect at 12:00am, Friday 30, December, 2016, the regular Syrian army attempted to advance into some zones formerly held by armed opposition factions affiliated with the Southern Front Formations in al-Naymah town, Daraa countryside. According to the Syrians for Truth and Justice reporter, the attack took place at about 12:20am, followed by few minutes of indiscriminate bombardment that targeted al-Yadudah village. The source of the artillary fire was the nearby regular Syrian army military units. There were also reports confirming that on the same day, at 02:06am. there occurred indicriminate bombardment by the Syrian regular army on the Daraa al-Balad and al-Manshia neighborhoods in Daraa.
On Saturday 31, December 2016, on the second day of the ceasefire agreement, clashes occurred between armed opposition forces and the regular Syrian forces after the latest attempted to advance into Tal al-Alaqiat region in the north countryside of Daraa. The clashes were accompanied by a continuous full siege imposed on Mahjjah town in the north countryside of Daraa. As detailed by Ahmad Yaman, Syrians for Truth and Justice reporter, the siege had started on December 26, 2016 after messages sent by the regime forces to surrender the town and sign a “reconciliation” statement.
“Despite the unanimous adopted UN Security Council resolution (2336) on December 31, 2016, which conspicuously pointed to other relevant UN resolutions that demand quick, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian-aid agencies to all territories of Syria, the regular Syrian forces still besiege Mahjjah town and completely prevent civilians from entering or leaving the town. For example, when the citizen Adnan Assees, a resident from Mahjjah, died in Al-Mojtahed hospital in Damascus, his relatives tried to enter the town to bury him there. However, the checkpoints affiliated to the regime prevented them from entering the town and halted them for two hours then allowed only the lorry driver to take the body into the town”.
On Sunday 1, January 2017, the pace of indiscriminate shelling and other hostilities by the regular army increased. The first casualty registered since the ceasefire agreement took effect in Syria was “Abd Alwaly Refa’t Assyasnah,” who was a young man/combatant shot in clashes between armed opposition factions and the regular forces during the latest attempt to advance from the al-Manshia neighborhood axis into Daraa al- Balad, as reported by Mohamad Aba Zeid, an activist from Daraa al-Balad said. He added,
“Increasing the pace of indiscriminate shelling which targeted Daraa al-Balad neighborhoods and the Dam road was a stupendous incident. The regime forces struck the Dam road at 15:40 pm with several mortar shells as well as Daraa al-Balad neighborhoods at 18:30 pm with heavy weapons and mortar shells that fell on civilian houses. The total shells dropped was nearly 30. Three civilians were wounded with minor injuries”.
On the same day, 1 December, 2017, at 12:15 am, indiscriminate artillery fire targeted the armed opposition-controlled al-Yadudah village, but there were no civilian injuries.
On Monday 2, January 2017, at 12:19am, the regular Syrian army targeted civilian houses in the Dam road in Daraa city with an explosive gas cylinder that injured a civilian. Then at 13:15 pm, the Syrian army struck the outskirts of Kufer Shamis, on the west countryside of Daraa, with artillery shells. The regime forces continued besieging Mahajjah and hit the plains surrounding it with several artillery shells at 14:30 pm, as reported by Syrians for Truth and Justice.