This week, the southern province of Sweida in Syria was on the verge of erupting in violence after over a dozen police officers from the area were kidnapped by militants from nearby Daraa.
Sunday is a typical work day in Syria, but last Sunday was anything but typical for 13 police officers from the southern province of Sweida. At 6am, they were kidnapped in the town of Kherba near Sanamein by some gunmen along with the driver of the minibus that takes them to work in the police stations of Daraa.
The event was undoubtedly disconcerting for their loved ones in Sweida given the outcome of similar incidents since the outbreak of protests and violence in Syria last spring. Already, 107 military personnel from the Sweida region have lost their lives in the conflict. Of them, 36 have been killed in Daraa – five in clashes with gunmen and 31 in isolated attacks.
Army officer Neshat Aqel, brother of general Nayef Aqel, was kidnapped and killed alongside two others in the town of al-Maliha. Their “executioners” faulted them for simply being from Sweida, and the video of their execution circulated throughout Syria via mobile phone.
At present, eight soldiers from Sweida are still missing. The countrysides of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs have become “black holes” for the youth of Sweida, such as sergeant Yamen al-Taqqi, who vanished a month and a half ago and has not been heard from since...
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria-houran%E2%80%99s-brush-civil-war