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.



Syrian Defense Ministry Announces Completion of Military Operations Against Assad Loyalists

Members of the Syrian Security Forces stop vehicles at a checkpoint following violence that occurred in the previous days during clashes between government forces and supporters of the former Syrian regime, in Jableh town of Latakia, Syria, 09 March 2025. (EPA)
Members of the Syrian Security Forces stop vehicles at a checkpoint following violence that occurred in the previous days during clashes between government forces and supporters of the former Syrian regime, in Jableh town of Latakia, Syria, 09 March 2025. (EPA)
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Syrian Defense Ministry Announces Completion of Military Operations Against Assad Loyalists

Members of the Syrian Security Forces stop vehicles at a checkpoint following violence that occurred in the previous days during clashes between government forces and supporters of the former Syrian regime, in Jableh town of Latakia, Syria, 09 March 2025. (EPA)
Members of the Syrian Security Forces stop vehicles at a checkpoint following violence that occurred in the previous days during clashes between government forces and supporters of the former Syrian regime, in Jableh town of Latakia, Syria, 09 March 2025. (EPA)

A Syrian military operation against loyalists of ousted former President Bashar al-Assad has been completed, the defense ministry said on Monday. 

Hassan Abdul Ghany, the defense ministry spokesperson, said in a statement on X that public institutions were now able to resume their work and provide essential services. 

"We are paving the way for life to return to normal and for the consolidation of security and stability," he said. 

He added that plans were in place to continue combating the remnants of the former government and eliminate any future threats. 

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed on Sunday to hunt down the perpetrators of the violent clashes and said he would hold to account anyone who overstepped the new rulers' authority. 

Al-Sharaa's office also said it was forming an independent committee to investigate the clashes and killings carried out by both sides. 

Abdul Ghany added that the security forces would cooperate with the investigation committee, offering full access to uncover the circumstances of the events, verify the facts and ensure justice for the wronged. 

"We were able to absorb the attacks from the remnants of the former regime and its officers. We shattered their element of surprise and managed to push them away from vital centers, securing most of the main roads," he said. 

Syrian security sources said over the weekend more than 300 of their members had been killed in clashes with former army personnel owing allegiance to Assad in coordinated attacks and ambushes on their forces that began on Thursday.  

Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Sunday that a mass grave had been discovered near Qardaha, Assad's hometown, containing the bodies of recently killed security forces.  

The attacks spiraled into revenge killings when thousands of armed supporters of Syria's new leaders from across the country descended to the coastal areas to support beleaguered forces of the new administration.