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5h ago

UN Says Syria’s Transition Is on a Knife-Edge as Sweida Ceasefire Remains Fragile

Envoys urge security reform, disarmament, fresh funding, plus protection for threatened aid operations.

FILE - Morgue workers place the bodies of unidentified people killed during clashes between Bedouin clans and Druze militias, into plastic bags outside the National Hospital in Sweida, Syria, Monday, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Fahd Kiwan, File)
A Druze militiaman at a check point looks a smoke in the background following last week's sectarian clashes in the Druze-majority town of Sweida, Syria, Friday, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Syrians gather to mark the anniversary of a chemical weapons attack carried out by Bashar Assad's forces in Eastern Ghouta in 2013, in the town of Zamalka on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
FILE - Bedouin fighters stand on a pickup truck as they arrive at al-Dour village on the outskirts of Sweida city, during clashes between the Bedouin clans and Druze militias, southern Syria, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed, File)

Overview

  • UN special envoy Geir Pedersen told the Security Council that the July 19 truce in Sweida has largely held, yet skirmishes persist on the outskirts and a return to wider violence remains possible.
  • Pedersen pressed the transitional authorities led by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to pursue security-sector reform and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of non-state forces.
  • UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher reported that 16 million Syrians need assistance, the 2025 appeal for $3.19 billion is only 14% funded, and aid convoys came under fire this month.
  • The United Kingdom welcomed the ceasefire but flagged ongoing access constraints in southern Syria and announced more than $2.2 million in additional support for people displaced by recent fighting.
  • Recent context includes July 13 clashes in Sweida between Druze militias and local Sunni Bedouin tribes, government forces aligning with Bedouin fighters, and Israeli airstrikes on government convoys in defense of Druze communities.