Escalating violence in strategic Syrian city belies Assad’s claim that he’s in control

BEIRUT — Violence has erupted in recent weeks in a strategic Syrian city with government forces and former rebels clashing amid a wave of assassinations, revealing the difficulty President Bashar al-Assad faces in maintaining control over areas he says he has pacified.

The southwestern city of Daraa is considered the cradle of the Syrian revolution because it is where the first anti-government demonstration broke out in 2011. Seven years later, after peaceful protests had turned into a devastating civil war, Russian-backed Syrian forces recaptured Daraa, raised the national flag and introduced a program of “reconciliation” with rebel fighters.