The southern city of Daraa, Daraa al-Balad, was the same place where the civil uprising against the Syrian government started back in March 2011. Therefore it was a major blow for the rebels when they were defeated in the province in 2018. Reconciliation deals were made and the rebels had to hand over their weapons to the Syrian Army. Those militants who did not accept the deal were transferred to the Idlib Governorate. Despite recapturing all lost territories, the Syrian Army was not able to deploy troops across the entire province. This caused rising insurgency attacks and assassinations among government forces.