Armed individuals riding motorcycles attacked two vans circulating on the road between the cities of Ezraa and Sweida, causing the deaths of seven of the soldiers who were travelling in the vehicles, while others were wounded, the Athr Press news portal reported.

A tense security situation reigns in Deraa after the extremists’ rejection of the reconciliation proposed by the government to hand over their small arms and establish the authority of the State and its institutions.

Deraa was reported free of terrorism in the summer of 2018 following a Russian-sponsored reconciliation process in which the extremists surrendered their weapons, while the rest went for the northern province of Idlib.

The province has been the scene of repeated attacks against the military and local leaders that Damascus attributes to remnant extremist groups carrying out instructions from their sponsors abroad.

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