Armed men targeted a Syrian government forces patrol in the village of Taybeh in the countryside of Sweida with rocket fire while attempting to raid the village to carry out arrests against suspects in the kidnapping of two state security personnel. According to sources from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the armed men were holed up in the village and were accused of abducting two members of the state's security agency.
The sources state that government forces surrounded the village "after an armed group's attack on a government checkpoint in the town of Um Dhibab, northeast of Sweida, where the attackers managed to kidnap two members of the state security division, and one of the attacking elements was injured." The Observatory further indicated that the attack was carried out by "relatives of one of the leaders of kidnapping gangs in Sweida who was arrested after being injured days earlier and was transferred to a prison in the capital, Damascus."
For its part, the "Sweida 24" page posted on Facebook that the armed men released the state security personnel "after tensions witnessed in the village of Taybeh in eastern Sweida on Saturday, and exchanges of fire between the armed group and security reinforcements." It explained that the security forces consisted of military security and state security, which mobilized their units and sought assistance from armed factions, sending reinforcements to the village of Taybeh.
Additionally, it mentioned that the Syrian government forces entered the village and clashed with the armed group before a local faction intervened "to find a solution to end the tension in the village and to preserve lives through negotiations with all parties involved in the incident." It confirmed that the faction "received the kidnapped security personnel from the abductors in exchange for the withdrawal of the government's security reinforcements."
