Efforts to Save Russian Map in Southern Syria After It Faltered in Daraa

 A member of the Free Syrian Army gestures as he stands on a tank after they captured the military Brigade 52 base in Daraa, Syria June 9, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir
A member of the Free Syrian Army gestures as he stands on a tank after they captured the military Brigade 52 base in Daraa, Syria June 9, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir
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Efforts to Save Russian Map in Southern Syria After It Faltered in Daraa

 A member of the Free Syrian Army gestures as he stands on a tank after they captured the military Brigade 52 base in Daraa, Syria June 9, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir
A member of the Free Syrian Army gestures as he stands on a tank after they captured the military Brigade 52 base in Daraa, Syria June 9, 2015. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Faqir

Efforts intensified on Wednesday to save the “Russian map” after the failure to implement an agreement reached by the Central Negotiating Committee in Daraa al-Balad with the Syrian regime delegation under the auspices of Russia, with the participation of the Fifth Division.

The official spokesman and representative of the Central Negotiating Committee in Daraa al-Balad, Adnan al-Masalma, announced on Wednesday the failure of the agreement reached by the committee with the negotiating parties, after two persons, who were requested to leave Daraa al-Balad, refused to be displaced.

The two wanted persons had pledged before the city’s clans to leave the region and accept displacement, which paved the way for an agreement with the Russian side and the Security Committee. But they suddenly went back on their decision, which led to the resumption of military actions.

The two people are Mohammad al-Masalma and Moaied Harfoush, who are two former leaders of the opposition factions in southern Syria in the city of Daraa al-Balad. They are accused by the Syrian regime of forming armed groups in the city.

As a result, the Russian military police and the Fifth Division forces withdrew on Tuesday night from the point they established in the city of Daraa al-Balad, which according to the agreement, was supposed to be a permanent base for monitoring the ceasefire agreement.

The first phase of the agreement included the halt of military operations in Daraa al-Balad, with the entry of the Russian military police and the withdrawal of the groups affiliated with Masalma and Harfoush. In parallel, the Fifth Division would ensure the withdrawal of the Fourth Division’s forces from the vicinity of the besieged area south of Daraa al-Balad.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Daraa al-Balad Committee and the city’s dignitaries and clans demanded the two men to immediately leave the city and to be held accountable “for all the repercussions resulting from their intransigence.”

A wave of criticisms targeted Masalma as a result of his contradictory positions, after he accepted the displacement on Tuesday, to later demand the withdrawal of the Fourth Division from the southern areas of Daraa al-Balad as a condition for leaving the city.

A videotape broadcast by activists in the city of Daraa showed Syrian regime forces shooting on Tuesday evening at the people of Daraa al-Balad as they gathered at the Saraya crossing between Daraa al-Mahatta and Daraa al-Balad.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian regime forces closed the crossing again after shooting at the residents, and stopped the bus that was carrying eight dissidents from the Syrian army from the city of Daraa Al-Balad, who had rejected the settlement.



Sudan's Military Accepts UN Proposal of a Weeklong Ceasefire in El Fasher for Aid Distribution

The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)
The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)
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Sudan's Military Accepts UN Proposal of a Weeklong Ceasefire in El Fasher for Aid Distribution

The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)
The wreckage of cars lie on the remains of the Shambat Bridge, which connects Omdurman and Bahri, on June 24, 2025 in the Sudanese capital region. (AFP)

Sudan's military agreed to a proposal from the United Nations for a weeklong ceasefire in El Fasher to facilitate UN aid efforts to the area, the army said Friday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called Sudanese military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and asked him for the humanitarian truce in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province, to allow aid delivery.

Burhan agreed to the proposal and stressed the importance of implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions, but it’s unknown whether the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces would agree and comply with the ceasefire.

“We are making contacts with both sides with that objective, and that was the fundamental reason for that phone contact. We have a dramatic situation in El Fasher,” Guterres told reporters on Friday.

No further details were revealed about the specifics of the ceasefire, including when it could go into effect.

Sudan plunged into war in April 2023 when simmering tensions between the Sudanese army and the rival RSF escalated into battles in the capital, Khartoum, and spread across the country, killing more than 20,000 people.

The war has also driven more than 14 million people from their homes and pushed parts of the country into famine. UNICEF said earlier this year that an estimated 61,800 children have been internally displaced since the war began.

Guterres said on Friday that a humanitarian truce is needed for effective aid distribution, and it must be agreed upon several days in advance to prepare for a large-scale delivery in the El Fasher area, which has seen repeated waves of violence recently.

El Fasher, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) southwest of Khartoum, is under the control of the military. The RSF has been trying to capture El Fasher for a year to solidify its control over the entire Darfur region. The paramilitary’s attempts included launching repeated attacks on the city and two major famine-stricken displacement camps on its outskirts.