Protests erupt over Eighth Corps presence in Syria's Daraa
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The residents of the town of Nahta in the northern Daraa countryside demand the disbanding of the Eighth Corps and its integration into the Syrian Arab Army.
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Two Syrian fighters stand guard as activists gather at the Umayyad square during a protest to demand a secular state, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 (AP)
Residents of Nahta in Syria’s southern Daraa countryside staged protests on Friday against the Eighth Corps, led by Ahmad al-Awda, an Al Mayadeen correspondent reported.
Demonstrators demanded the removal of the Eighth Corps from the town and the surrounding areas, chanting, “Out, out, out! The corps must leave.” They also voiced support for the formation of a unified Syrian army.
Additionally, protesters expressed their backing for the Syrian Ministry of Defense and called for the exclusion of Ahmad al-Awda from any role in Daraa and southern Syria.
The Eighth Brigade, formerly known as the Youth of Sunna Gathering, was originally established by Russian forces in southern Syria following the 2018 reconciliation agreements, which saw opposition factions surrender control of the province. Although later affiliated with the Syrian military’s security apparatus, the brigade retained its weapons and ammunition.
Simultaneously, protests also erupted in the city of Salamiyah in Hama’s countryside, where demonstrators demanded an end to violations in the region. They called for the issuance of a constitutional declaration, a reduction in bread prices to match income levels, an end to arbitrary dismissals of public sector employees, and a halt to all violations against public freedoms.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, since the beginning of 2025, around 105 targeted killings and retaliatory attacks have been recorded across Syrian provinces, resulting in 218 deaths, over half of whom were killed due to sectarian affiliations.
Syrian factions dissolved
A meeting took place in December between the leaders of the military factions in Syria with transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa resulted in an agreement to dissolve all the factions and merge them under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defense, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing the military operations room and sources affiliated with the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.
Al-Sharaa said in a press conference in Damascus with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, that there will be no weapons in the hands of anyone other than the new Syrian state, whether from the factions that led an offensive that ousted the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or from the factions present in the regions controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
He had confirmed that all military factions will be merged into a single entity under the control of the Ministry of Defense in the new Syrian army.
Al-Sharaa also appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, formerly known as Abu Hassan al-Hamwi, as defense minister in the interim Syrian government.
But since the fall of al-Assad's regime, the Israeli occupation military launched large-scale bombardments that destroyed for than 90% of the Syrian Army's defenses and military capabilities.
