Syrian Soldiers Shout Angry Chants Against al-Assad and Iran

On July 28, fighters from the Syrian Army's Fifth Corps shouted chants against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran during a graduation ceremony for a unit of soldiers who had completed a training course in Daraa Governorate in southern Syria.

"Large crowds gathered in the city of Busra al-Sham in the Daraa area for the graduation of almost 1,000 fighters," IranWire Syrian correspondent Taym Al-Ahmad said. He added that after the ceremony, anti-al-Bashar and Iran chants could be heard among the crowd. Chants included: ”Syria lives and Bashar al-Assad falls," "Syria is ours, what is it to the al-Assad family?" There were also chants against Iran and Hezbollah.

Al-Ahmad said both civilians and military personnel attended the gathering, which took place near Busra Castle. The event marked the graduation of soldiers due to join the Syrian Army's Russia-backed Fifth Corps.

Al-Ahmad noted that the group graduated in the presence of Russian officers and course leader Colonel Naseem Al-Arah (who defected from the regime but returned to the army's ranks following the settlement process). The ceremony was not attended by any representatives of the regime's commanders, only Russian officers.

During a speech at the graduation ceremony, al-Arah said, "The young men who graduate today from the military course are those that will protect Daraa from any external danger," without specifying any particular party.

Although members of the Syrian Army's Fifth Corps' Eighth Brigade receive their salaries from the Syrian Ministry of Defense, they are not given any direct orders from the Syrian Army. Instead it is Russia who controls their activities, according to an IranWire correspondent in Syria quoting military sources from the brigade.

IranWire correspondent Taym al-Ahmad recorded and filmed parts of the gathering and the chanting crowd.

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“Army of the South” to Keep Iranian Ambitions at Bay

A military source who asked not to be named told IranWire that the Fifth Corps opened recruitment to its ranks in most towns in Daraa Governorate at the end of June.

The source added that personnel underwent an intensive 20-day training course and they will be deployed with the Eighth Brigade. He also explained that the purpose of the operation was to "increase the number of fighters to protect the southern region from Iran's ambitions and militias.” 

The graduation followed the announcement by Ahmad Al-Awdah, one of the most prominent leaders of the Fifth Corps in Daraa, of the formation of the "Army of the South."

The Fifth Corps is one of the Syrian regime forces' largest military units in southern Syria, consisting of reconciled factions of former opposition fighters who agreed to join the ranks of the Syrian Army instead of being transferred to Idlib Governorate in northwest Syria in mid-2018, when the Syrian regime signed a settlement agreement under Russian sponsorship.