There are no pro-Iranian armed units in the south of Syria, Russia’s Ambassador to Damascus Alexander Kinshchak told reporters on Thursday, according to TASS. And you can trust him, because Russia has a long and proud history of not lying.
“This issue has already been settled,” Kinshchak said reassuringly. “I have repeatedly heard from different sources that there are no pro-Iranian, Shiite units in the south of Syria.”
The ambassador did not comment on the news that Iranian proxies dressed in Syrian army uniforms have infiltrated the Assad regime’s forces which are in the process of retaking the region just north of Israel’s border.
In July 2017, Russia, the US and Jordan coordinated a de-escalation zone that incorporated the three southernmost provinces of the country: Daraa, Quneitra and Suwayda, where the Syrian and Russian armies (mostly the Russians) have recently been de-escalating the living daylights out of the civilian population in these zones, causing the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands.
So Assad is winning some of his country back, having lost more than 100,000 of his own soldiers in the 7-year civil war. SANA reported on Thursday that Ten buses entered Um Batina village in Quneitra’s southern countryside, ready to evacuate rebels. Or, as SANA called it: The return of the Syrian Arab Army to its pre-2011 positions and the evacuation of those unwilling to engage in a settlement.