Attachments
I. CONTEXT.
General Overview:.
The conflict over national power and orientation of the political system between the Syrian government and political groups within Syria which began in 2011, has continued to devastate the country. According to the Global Peace Index, Syria is the third least peaceful country in the world, trumped solely by Afghanistan and Yemen (IEP 2022 Global Peace Report: 11).
14.6 million people out of a population of 21.7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance across Syria, with 2.6 million people in need in Ar-Raqqa, Al-Hasaka, and Deir-Ez-Zor. Around 12 million people are food insecure (54% of the population). Peacebuilding and social cohesion efforts are also lagging behind, with only a few organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United States Institute for Peace (USIP), and People in Need (PIN) working on inter-community dialogue and sporting as well as poetry events inter alia. The Syrian International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) Regional Forum (SIRF) recently warned that conflict in northern Syria could escalate and cause further suffering, displacement, and protection concerns to the local populations and damage to vital infrastructure and resources (SIRF: Interagency Statement. 01.12.22).
The Government of Syria controls two-thirds of Syria’s territory which incorporates Damascus and territory south of the Euphrates River. The border along Iraq and Turkey is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), while Kurdish areas on the east side of the Euphrates River are under the control of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (Rojava), and Raqqa and Deir al-Zor are under the control of Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) (BTI 2022: 6).
Northeast Syria is controlled by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The Democratic Union Party (PYD) which includes militias such as Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS) against the government. This conflict has been ongoing since 1962 over autonomy, subnational predominance and resources (HIIK CoBa 2023: 170).
The crisis between the latter SDF and its affiliates such as the People’s Protection Units and Afrin Liberation Forces (HRE) on the one hand and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA) and Turkey has caused 254 deaths and 355 people injured according to the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research during the whole of 2021 (HIIK CoBa 2022). HTS and various Islamist groups (such as Ahrar al-Sham and Hamza Division) have been in conflict with different factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Syrian Liberation Front (SLF).
In January 2023, the SNA factions merged with the SLF to create the new ‘Revolutionaries for Liberation’ group. In 2022, Israeli airstrikes in Syria killed at least 38 people and injured at least 31. For example, on 11 November, 10 people were killed in an airstrike near Al-Qa’im border crossing, in Deir ez-Zor (HIIK CoBa 2023).
The Islamic State in Syria (IS) is still operating in Syria and launched its largest attack in since loosing territory to the SDF) in 2019 when they attacked the Al-Sina prison in Al-Hasakeh city in January 2022, which resulted in 350 IS militants and 150 SDF fighters dying in the ensuing battle. ISIS is still present in Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo and Al-Raqqa.