1. General description of the security situation

Table of contents

1.1. Overview of current conflicts

On 27 November 2024, anti-Assad opposition forces led by the former armed group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive16 in Idlib governorate17 that within days took control of Aleppo,18 Hama and Homs,19 and finally, on 8 December 2024, Damascus city.20 After former President Bashar Al-Assad fled to Russia,21 HTS established a transitional government22 led by HTS leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, who was appointed transitional president of Syria on 29 January 2025.23 The period since the fall of Al-Assad witnessed instances of international armed conflict related to Israel’s expanded military operations and presence in Syria24, as well as a continuation of non-international armed conflicts that involved Assadist remnants, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the former Syrian National Army (SNA), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sweida-based Druze militias, as well as activities of criminal networks.25 Further security challenges were related to retaliatory, communal26 and sectarian violence, including killings and kidnappings by local armed groups or unknown individuals.27

Clashes involving Assadist remnants on the coast and in the centre: instability culminated in early March 2025 when Assad loyalists mounted a series of attacks against transitional security forces in the coastal governorates of Tartous and Latakia.28 Widespread clashes ensued, with security operations entailing sectarian and retaliatory attacks.29 According to the UN, members of the government forces and private individuals aligned with them killed more than 1 400 people, most of them Alawi civilians, across Latakia, Tartous, Homs and Hama. Violence continued in these areas throughout the rest of 2025, albeit with lesser intensity,30 with a spike in attacks by Assadist remnants on the coast in August 2025.31

Fighting between the SDF and the transitional government/former rebels in the northeast: In the northeast, the Turkish-backed32 SNA launched an offensive in Aleppo governorate following the capture of Aleppo city by HTS-led forces in late November 2024,33 targeting SDF-controlled areas.34 As a result, the SDF lost territory west of the Euphrates, including Tall Rifaat and Manbij towns.35 In late December 2024, repeated clashes erupted between the SNA and SDF over control of the strategic Tishreen Dam area (Manbij countryside),36 while Turkish aerial strikes hit SDF targets and civilians.37 Despite a March 2025 agreement between the transitional government and the SDF that provided for the integration of the SDF into the state’s structures by year’s end, fighting continued along the northeastern frontlines throughout 2025.38 Meanwhile, the SDF also faced attacks by ISIL and a long-running struggle with tribal armed groups in Deir Ez-Zor.39 A temporary lull in clashes between the SNA and SDF in spring 202540 was followed by renewed escalations in fighting, now between the transitional government forces and the SDF, in August41 and September.42

In early October 2025, new clashes erupted between government and SDF forces in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh of Aleppo city.43 Then, shortly after the deadline for the integration of the SDF expired in December 2025,44 government military forces took over Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighbourhoods amid intense clashes45 (6 – 10 January 2026).46 Subsequently, they captured broad swathes of SDF-held territory47 further east, including Deir Hafer town48 and, with the aid of militias49 from local Arab tribes,50 took control of the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor51 and their respective governorates.52 They then advanced further towards Hasaka53 while surrounding the SDF forces in the town of Ain Al-Arab (Kobane).54 Both parties accused one another of having committed extrajudicial killings during these hostilities.55 A series of ceasefire agreements concluded between President Al-Sharaa and SDF leader General Mazloum Abdi between 18-30 January 2026 largely brought the clashes to a halt.56

Attacks by ISIL and other insurgents: Attacks attributed to ISIL continued, with the UN Sanctions Monitoring team member reported that Member States identified at least 129 such incidents between June and November 2025 alone, most of them attacks involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), ambushes and assassinations, mainly occurring in Deir Ez-Zor and targeting the SDF.57 Several attacks were carried out after ISIL spokesperson Abu Hudhayfa Al-Ansari on 21 February 2026 made a call to action against the transitional government.58 Other incidents, including a deadly December 2025 bombing of a mosque in Homs city59 and at least two assassination attempts against President Al-Sharaa, were claimed by the group Saraya Ansar Al-Sunnah.60 At the same time, transitional government61 and US forces continued to target ISIL sites.62

Israeli operations in southern Syria: As the Al-Assad regime collapsed, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) moved into the UN-demilitarised buffer zone in the Golan Heights63 and further into areas in Quneitra and Dar’a.64 Between December 2024 and the end of 2025, the UN noted 900 reported Israeli ground incursions in Quneitra.65 The IDF further carried out large numbers of airstrikes on former regime military sites in December 202466 and strikes continued to be reported at least into late 2025.67 Ground operations caused multiple civilian casualties68 and continued in 2026, involving regular patrols and raids.69 In the one-year period after the fall of Al-Assad, the Syrian non-profit media organisation Enab Baladi documented 830 Israeli air raids and 15 instances of artillery bombardment, resulting in the destruction of military airbases and aircraft, air defences, radars, signalling stations, arms and ammunition depots, scientific research centres and warships.70

Conflicts involving Druze factions in Sweida: Longstanding competition between Druze and Bedouins (some of whom Druze leaders have accused of siding with Damascus) over money,71 pastures, water and control of borderlands was exacerbated after the fall of the Al-Assad government as the new transitional government sought to expand its control across a unified Syria that includes Sweida. Some Druze leaders refused to disarm or fully accept the deployment of central government forces in the governorate.72 Tensions between Druze and Bedouins escalated into heavy clashes in Sweida city73 and villages to its north and west in mid-July 2025.74 To contain the violence,75 the transitional government deployed forces in the area, which prompted Israel to respond by launching airstrikes on the government forces, citing obligations to protect Druze civilians. Reported ‘mass killings, looting and forced displacement’ of local Bedouins by Druze militias76 prompted mass reinforcements from Bedouin tribes across the country.77 Major clashes eventually subsided after ceasefire agreements were concluded on 18/19 July 2025.78 According to the UN, these hostilities resulted in at least 1 700 deaths, the majority of them among the Druze community, but also among Bedouins and the government forces.79 The killings were attributed to government military forces, Druze armed factions, tribal fighters,80 and Israeli airstrikes.81 A subsequent roadmap to stabilise the governorate and integrate its institutions into the state structures, drawn up by the transitional government, the USA and Jordan in the absence of Druze leaders, saw limited implementation.82 Some fighting between government forces and Druze militiamen, albeit at a significantly lower scale than in July 2025,83 erupted in November 202584 and January,85 March86 and May 2025.87 At the time of writing, most of Sweida governorate remains under the control of local Druze authorities.88

  • 16

    Asharq Al-Awsat, Syria’s Sharaa in Aleppo a Year After Fall of Second City, 29 November 2025, url; New Arab (The), Syria government-SDF clash on first anniversary of rebel offensive that toppled Assad, 27 November 2025, url

  • 17

    HRW, World Report – Syria, 16 January 2025, url, p. 449

  • 18

    BBC, Russian strikes hit Aleppo as rebels take control, 30 November 2024, url

  • 19

    AP, Syrian government falls in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family, 8 December 2024, url

  • 20

    Asharq Al-Awsat, Syria’s Sharaa in Aleppo a Year After Fall of Second City, 29 November 2025, url; France24, Assad era minister turns himself in to new Syria authorities: statement, 4 February 2025, url

  • 21

    BBC, Assad is in Moscow after fleeing Syria and will be given asylum, Russian state media report, 7 December 2024, url

  • 22

    Al Jazeera, Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa named president for transitional period, 29 January 2025, url

  • 23

    Guardian (The), Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa made transitional president of Syria, 29 January 2025, url; BBC, Ahmed al-Sharaa named Syria's transitional president, 31 January 2025, url

  • 24

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, paras. 82, 111

  • 25

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 80

  • 26

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 80; SNHR, The Fifteenth Annual Report on Human Rights Situation in Syria 2025, 26 March 2026, url, p. 8

  • 27

    SNHR, The Fifteenth Annual Report on Human Rights Situation in Syria 2025, 26 March 2026, url, p. 8

  • 28

    SNHR, Preliminary Report on the Violations that Took Place in the Wake of the Attacks Carried Out by Non-State Armed Groups Linked to the Assad Regime, Mostly in the Governorates of Latakia, Tartus, and Hama, 11 March 2025, url, p. 7; USDOD, Operation Inherent Resolve and other U.S. Government Activities related to Iraq & Syria, January 1, 2025 – March 31, 2025, 29 April 2025, url, p. 22

  • 29

    SNHR, Preliminary Report on the Violations that Took Place in the Wake of the Attacks Carried Out by Non-State Armed Groups Linked to the Assad Regime, Mostly in the Governorates of Latakia, Tartus, and Hama, 11 March 2025, url, pp. 10-12

  • 30

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 20, 37

  • 31

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, August 15, 2025, 15 August 2025, url, p. 6

  • 32

    HRW, Syria: Türkiye-backed Armed Groups Detain, Extort Civilians, 14 May 2025, url

  • 33

    Iddon, P., Why fighting is raging in north Syria between the Turkish-backed SNA and Kurdish-led SDF, The New Arab, 21 January 2025, url

  • 34

    Levy, I., Supporting the SDF in Post-Assad Syria, TWI, 13 December 2024, url, pp. 1, 3

  • 35

    Iddon, P., Why fighting is raging in north Syria between the Turkish-backed SNA and Kurdish-led SDF, The New Arab, 21 January 2025, url

  • 36

    New Arab (The), Clashes erupt near Syria's Tishrin Dam as Turkish-backed SNA and Kurdish-led SDF battle for control, 26 December 2024, url

  • 37

    Etana, Syria Update #16: 3 February, 3 February 2025, url; Etana, Syria Update #15: 28 January, 28 January 2025, url

  • 38

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 21

  • 39

    Etana, Syria Update #16: 3 February, 3 February 2025, url

  • 40

    USDOD, Operation Inherent Resolve And Other U.S. Government activities related to Iraq & Syria, April 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025, 29 July 2025, url, p. 25

  • 41

    Security Council Report, Syria: Briefing and Consultations, 20 August 2025, url

  • 42

    Enab Baladi, Syrian Defense Ministry: Dead and injured in SDF shelling east of Aleppo, 11 September 2025, url; ISW and CTP, Iran Update, September 11, 2025, 11 September 2025, url

  • 43

    Etana Syria, Brief: Ceasefire pauses SDF-Damascus fighting, 14 October 2025, url

  • 44

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 21

  • 45

    New York Times (The), Syrian Military Takes Aleppo Neighborhoods After Clashes With Kurds, 11 January 2026; Security Council Report, February 2026 Monthly Forecast – Syria, 1 February 2026, url

  • 46

    Etana Syria, Brief: Clashes erupt in Aleppo province, 15 January 2026, url

  • 47

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 21

  • 48

    BBC, Syrian army moves east of Aleppo after Kurdish forces withdraw, 17 January 2026, url; Al Jazeera, Photos: Syrian army enters Deir Hafer after SDF withdrawal, 17 January 2026, url

  • 49

    CNN, Syria’s military has seized swaths of Kurdish-held territory. Here’s what we know., 19 January 2026, url

  • 50

    ISW and CTP, Syrian Government Offensive Forces Syrian Kurdish Group to Capitulate, 18 January 2026, url

  • 51

    Al Jazeera, Syrian forces make gains against SDF: What it means for country’s Kurds, 21 January 2026, url; ISW and CTP, Syrian Government Offensive Forces Syrian Kurdish Group to Capitulate, 18 January 2026, url

  • 52

    Enab Baladi, The Syrian army completes its takeover of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, 19 January 2026, url; HRW, Syria: Civilian Protection Lacking in Northeast Escalation, 25 January 2026, url

  • 53

    HRW, Syria: Civilian Protection Lacking in Northeast Escalation, 25 January 2026, url

  • 54

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, January 22, 2026, 22 January 2026, url

  • 55

    HRW, Syria: Civilian Protection Lacking in Northeast Escalation, 25 January 2026, url

  • 56

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 21

  • 57

    UN Security Council, Thirty-seventh report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, S/2026/44, 4 February 2026, url, para. 54

  • 58

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, February 25, 2026, 25 February 2026, url

  • 59

    BBC, Blast at Syrian mosque during Friday prayers leaves at least eight dead, 26 December 2025, url

  • 60

    UN Security Council, Thirty-seventh report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, S/2026/44, 4 February 2026, url, para. 53

  • 61

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, November 25, 2025, 25 November 2025, url; ISW and CTP, Iran Update, November 10, 2025, 10 November 2025, url

  • 62

    ISW and CTP, Iran Update, February 17, 2026, 17 February 2026, url

  • 63

    Amnesty International, The State of the World's Human Rights, 21 April 2026, url, p. 350; Al Jazeera, Satellite images show Israel building military bases in Syria buffer zone, 3 February 2025, url; Washington Post (The), Israel is building outposts in Syria, raising local fears of occupation, 2 February 2025, url; ACLED, Syria: Israeli airstrikes reach an all-time high after Assad regime falls, 19 December 2024, url

  • 64

    Etana, Syria Update #15: 28 January, 28 January 2025, url

  • 65

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 82

  • 66

    ACLED, Syria: Israeli airstrikes reach an all-time high after Assad regime falls, 19 December 2024, url

  • 67

    BBC, Thirteen killed in deadliest Israeli raid for months in southern Syria, 28 November 2025, url

  • 68

    BBC, Thirteen killed in deadliest Israeli raid for months in southern Syria, 28 November 2025, url; SNHR, Israeli ground incursions continue in southern Syria Amid Escalating Violations against Civilians, 8 July 2025, url

  • 69

    Enab Baladi, Israeli Army Wounds Shepherd in Rural Daraa, 1 June 2026, url; Enab Baladi, Israeli Army Detains Two, Continues Quneitra Incursions, 20 May 2026, url

    Etana Syria, Brief: Israeli operations continue in south-west Syria, 3 February 2026, url

  • 70

    Enab Baladi, Israel destabilizes southern Syria through incursions and land grabs, 7 December 2025, url

  • 71

    Montag, S. and Hammoud, H., Despite Calls for Calm, the Violence in Sweida Shows No Sign of Ending, New Lines Magazine, 18 July 2025, url

  • 72

    UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria; Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 12-13

  • 73

    International Crisis Group, Crisis Watch – Syria: December 2024 – April 2026, n.d., url

  • 74

    UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 26-27

  • 75

    Hassan, H., How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria, New Lines Magazine, 24 July 2025, url

  • 76

    International Crisis Group, Crisis Watch – Syria: December 2024 – April 2026, n.d., url

  • 77

    Hassan, H., How Foreign Agendas Hijacked a Local Crisis in Syria, New Lines Magazine, 24 July 2025, url

  • 78

    Security Council Report, August 2025 Monthly Forecast – Syria, 30 July 2025, url

  • 79

    UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 48

  • 80

    UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 38

  • 81

    UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 48

  • 82

    International Crisis Group, Restoring Security in Post-Assad Syria: Lessons from the Coast and Suweida, 26 November 2025, url, p. 28

  • 83

    UN Human Rights Council, International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law violations committed during the July 2025 violence in Suwayda, Syria, A/HRC/61/CRP.7, 27 March 2026, url, para. 52

  • 84

    International Crisis Group, Restoring Security in Post-Assad Syria: Lessons from the Coast and Suweida, 26 November 2025, url, p. 28

  • 85

    Enab Baladi, Clashes Renewed Between Interior Ministry Forces, National Guard in Suwayda, 18 January 2026, url

  • 86

    Etana Syria, Brief: Clashes in western Suwayda, 28 March 2026, url; BBC, Israel strikes Syria after Druze clashes, 20 March 2026, url

  • 87

    Enab Baladi, Suwayda: Injuries in Clash between “Interior Ministry” and Local Factions, 4 May 2026, url; New Arab (The), Clashes erupt in Suweida between Syrian forces and Druze militia, 4 May 2026, url

  • 88

    Enab Baladi, “Legal Committee” rejects roadmap for solution in Suwayda, 17 September 2025, url; UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (A/HRC/61-62), 12 March 2026, url, para 7