Over 40 young men and women, including 12 Palestinian refugees sheltered in AlHajar AlAswad neighborhood, were rounded up in an arrest sweep launched by Syrian security forces south of Damascus.

Local sources said Syrian security patrols launched the manhunt on Sunday, October 4, over allegations of searching for drug traffickers and anti-government sleeper cells (a group of operatives, spies or terrorists, living in secret among a targeted community waiting for instructions or an opportunity to act).

All the arrestees have recently submitted demands to return to their houses in AlHajar AlAswad neighborhood.