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Ain Menin water dispute
Ain Menin in the northern countryside of Damascus saw protests on Friday afternoon over a water-well issue, and the demonstrations later escalated into security tensions with residents gathering in the evening and blocking main roads.
“after protests that had taken place yesterday afternoon over a water-well issue”
Residents said a sit-in demanded stopping maintenance of one of the wells in the Be'arjel area lands, which they said include 18 wells supplying Tell and Ain Menin, while they complained water shortages persisted with water reaching homes only once a week.
An eyewitness told Syria Now that clashes occurred between security forces and angry protesters, followed by gunfire to disperse them, before tension rose further as some protesters blocked roads by lighting car tires.
The Damascus Rif Governorate said the works in Ain Menin included clearing and cleaning Well No. 14 belonging to the Be'arjel water project to strengthen the water supply to the Tell area, and it said some people deliberately disrupted the work, damaged drilling equipment, and attacked internal security forces.
The Damascus Rif Information Directorate said the local tension involved damage to machinery and an assault on working staff, road closures, and burning of tires, requiring firefighting and ambulance teams, while it said internal security forces were working to stabilize the situation with only minor injuries recorded from the crowding.
Competing accounts and arrests
Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat said calm returned to Ain Menin after Internal Security Forces opened fire to disperse protesters, resulting in injuries and the arrest of several people, while it described residents as protesting drilling to boost water supply to Tell on land they said belonged to them.
The same report said protesters filled in the well, halting the drilling apparatus, and blocked roads with burning tires to prevent security reinforcements from advancing, and it added that Internal Security Forces fired and arrested several people.
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported that clashes between residents and Internal Security Forces personnel resulted in six people being injured and several protesters arrested, after tensions escalated around the maintenance works at the water facility.
The Rural Damascus Information Directorate, as quoted by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, denied rumors of drilling new wells on private lands and said the vehicle was carrying out maintenance and cleaning work on one of the wells belonging to the water organization.
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed also said the Directorate affirmed that there were no reported deaths, and that injuries were limited to minor cases arising from crowding before it announced an end to the tension as security forces dispersed.
Resolution efforts and detainees
Al-Jazeera Net said the Syrian Ministry of Interior released a number of young men detained two days earlier in connection with tensions in Ain Minin, coinciding with the arrival of Brigadier General Ahmed al-Dalati to the town where protests had resumed.
“We were able to resolve the issue in Ain Minin and released the detainees”
It said dozens of residents gathered on Sunday for a sit-in demanding the release of detainees and to stop drilling at the well within the Ba'arjal lands, and it quoted a protester saying general security had detained about 28 people, of whom 23 are under 21 years old.
Al-Jazeera Net reported that the head of internal security in Rural Damascus said: "We were able to resolve the issue in Ain Minin and released the detainees after taking the appropriate legal measures, and referred to detaining security personnel who exceeded their authorities."
The same account said the Internal Security Command in Rural Damascus indicated the gathering did not have a permit and that detentions were limited to those involved in rioting.
Separately, Enab Baladi said the Rural Damascus Information Directorate confirmed the machine was performing maintenance on wells belonging to the Water Foundation, and it said the directorate reported no fatalities and injuries limited to minor ones resulting from the stampede as internal security forces worked to calm the situation.
