Pedersen Turns Attention to Syria’s Daraa amid Local Calls for ‘Decentralization’

Reinforcements from the pro-regime 4th Armored Division enter the city of Daraa, southwestern Syria, in late July. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Reinforcements from the pro-regime 4th Armored Division enter the city of Daraa, southwestern Syria, in late July. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Pedersen Turns Attention to Syria’s Daraa amid Local Calls for ‘Decentralization’

Reinforcements from the pro-regime 4th Armored Division enter the city of Daraa, southwestern Syria, in late July. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Reinforcements from the pro-regime 4th Armored Division enter the city of Daraa, southwestern Syria, in late July. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen on Monday met with several representatives from Syria’s southwestern Daraa governorate to discuss the latest field developments, especially the regime’s 4th Armored Division's siege to the provincial capital, also called Daraa.

For over a month now, the Division has blockaded Daraaa, forcing untold suffering and extremely dire living conditions upon the city.

Civilians are demanding end to the siege. Daraa’s only bakery has been put out of service after its flour supplies ran out.

Locals are suffering from a severe shortage in medical supplies, water and electricity.

Regime forces have also barred the entry of essential goods to Daraa.

Despite Russia, a vital ally of the Syrian regime, promising local Hauran committees that the military escalation against Daraa will end and peaceful solutions will prevail, no final agreement has been made.

Many activists on social media circulated a statement allegedly released by a collective of Hauran Clans in Daraa calling for decentralization in the southern governorate.

“The party that rules in this world cannot run it; administrative issues must be left to residents and their local representatives,” the statement read, adding that experience goes to show that the people of Daraa are better at achieving development and justice for themselves.

The statement urged a “peaceful transfer of power in Syria according to international resolutions, especially UN Security Council resolution 2254.”

It reiterated that people in Daraa seek “making Syria for all Syrians” and transforming it into a civil and democratic state where everyone exercises their freedoms under international human rights laws.



Sudan Arms Surge Raises Alarms Over Civilian Protection

Sudan says it destroyed 50,000 explosive remnants of war (AFP)
Sudan says it destroyed 50,000 explosive remnants of war (AFP)
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Sudan Arms Surge Raises Alarms Over Civilian Protection

Sudan says it destroyed 50,000 explosive remnants of war (AFP)
Sudan says it destroyed 50,000 explosive remnants of war (AFP)

A surge in deadly violence has gripped the quiet northern town of al-Dabbah, exposing the growing threat posed by the rampant spread of weapons across Sudan in the absence of effective state control.

At least eight people were killed over just two days, four in tribal clashes and four others in a street fight within the town.

The latest bloodshed comes amid a broader climate of insecurity, where gunfire has become a common soundscape. In nearby Omdurman, social media users circulated graphic footage of a young man shot dead in cold blood after resisting an attempt to steal his mobile phone.

Reports of killings and injuries from arguments and brawls settled with bullets have flooded social platforms, painting a grim picture of lawlessness. Armed robbery gangs are said to roam freely, terrorizing civilians with no security forces in sight.

As Sudan’s brutal conflict enters its third year, guns have become as commonplace in towns and villages as household items. What was once settled with fists or sticks is now resolved through the barrel of a gun.

Tens of thousands of civilians have reportedly armed themselves, citing the need for self-defense amid state collapse and the disintegration of law enforcement.

Even before the war erupted, estimates suggested around 2.2 million firearms were circulating in Sudan’s conflict zones. Since then, the figure is believed to have ballooned, with unofficial estimates placing the current number at nearly six million, most acquired privately or informally.

In al-Dabbah, local authorities confirmed tribal clashes erupted between members of the Kababish and Hawaweer tribes, leaving four dead and others wounded before security forces intervened. The following day, a quarrel between vehicle drivers escalated into a gunfight, claiming four more lives.

Meanwhile, in the Omdurman district of Al-Hattana, gunmen fatally shot a man while attempting to snatch his phone, another grim scene that social media brought into public view.

Weapons have now flooded Sudan’s markets. Eyewitnesses and former security officials say that under the brief control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, firearms were openly sold on the street like vegetables, with prices starting at just 20,000 Sudanese pounds, roughly $10.

Security experts say this gun chaos is not a sudden phenomenon but the product of years of unchecked proliferation.

Under former President Omar al-Bashir, weapons were distributed to tribal militias to fight opposing groups. With the eruption of nationwide conflict, arms have spread from the traditional battlegrounds of Darfur and Kordofan to cities in Sudan’s north, east, and center.

Legal analyst Moaz Hadra warned of the growing dangers of “random arming,” saying some groups are being trained and armed outside Sudan to destabilize the country. “Why are these groups being trained abroad instead of within Sudan’s military institutions?” he asked when speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat.

Officials Downplay Risk, Citing Self-Defense

Despite mounting violence, Sudanese security and military officials continue to downplay the threat. They argue that most weapons are held by civilians for self-protection against RSF attacks or roaming bandits. “Should a citizen wait helplessly while armed men storm his home?” one commentator asked rhetorically.

Brigadier General Fath al-Rahman al-Toum, a police spokesman, dismissed fears of total lawlessness, saying that gun crackdowns are ongoing and that firearms possession is being treated as an exceptional situation under extraordinary circumstances.

Others, like Brigadier General Saleh Abdullah, insist that once the war ends, collecting the weapons will be “very easy,” noting that most guns were distributed under strict regulations to reserve forces and can be retrieved using serial numbers registered to each piece. “The army has always managed its weapons according to clear protocols,” he said.

Major General Mujahid Ibrahim added that Sudan’s porous borders, particularly in the west, have made it easier for arms to enter the country unchecked, exacerbating the crisis. Still, military officials say weapons loaned to civilians can be recovered thanks to detailed logs and unique identifiers.

Yet, as al-Dabbah and Omdurman reel from fresh bouts of violence, the gap between official reassurance and on-the-ground chaos continues to widen. With Sudan’s civil war showing no sign of abating, the unchecked spread of guns threatens to tear apart what remains of the country’s fragile social fabric.