Syria grapples with unrest as government faces old and new threats
Damascus was rocked on Tuesday by explosions during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, the first European Union leader to visit the country since
Damascus was rocked on Tuesday by explosions during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, the first European Union leader to visit the country since forces led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa deposed Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. A separate bomb explosion at a Damascus cafe last week killed at least nine people. Eighteen people were reported injured in the latest explosions on Tuesday, which occurred after an initial device that security forces were defusing near the French president’s hotel detonated, followed by a second explosion some minutes later, the state news agency, SANA, reported. Al-Sharaa’s government has faced innumerable challenges since al-Assad’s ouster two years ago. Having taken control of a bitterly divided country wracked by years of civil war, which served as a theatre for outside actors such as Russia, Iran, and its various allied Shia militias, joblessness remains high and the rule of law uncertain. While responsibility for the recent spate of bombings remains unknown, conjecture is centring upon the remnants of the ISIL (ISIS) group. Its former capital, Raqqa, in northeastern Syria became synonymous with its brutal excesses, and the group remains a tangible force on the ground. The United Nations estimates the group still boasts between 1,500 and 3,000 fighters across Syria and neighbouring Iraq. ISIL “is still around and still active”, Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International, a New York-headquartered think tank, told Al Jazeera, adding that, so far, speculation on responsibility for the recent bombing had largely centred upon the group.
“It’s not really about numbers. You just need a couple of guys to make and plant a bomb to create an outsized impact,” he said, referring to the government’s efforts to project a sense of normalcy and attract tourism and much-needed foreign investment, which bombings such as Tuesday’s can easily derail. “From a political and psychological view, these things couldn’t come at a worse time,” Lund added. Presence of armed groups and factions While al-Sharaa has defied expectations in regaining control of nearly all of Syria after years of fighting, in some areas the rule of law is at best maintained by local militias co-opted into the army, or is barely existent at all. Other fighting groups also remain active after years of conflict. In addition to those who remain loyal to the former al-Assad regime, a number of the Shia militias that originally allied with Iran to back the previous government remain active. All the while, mistrust and rivalries with neighbours Iran and Iraq, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, and Israel – which has proven eager to support minority groups, such as Syria’s Druze, against the government – threaten the state-building project al-Sharaa began in December 2024 “Damascus controls most of Syria in formal terms, including the main cities and the northeast after the January integration deal,” Nanar Hawach, a senior analyst with the Crisis Group, said, adding that government control ranged from its strongest in western and central areas to its weakest along the southern border and in Druze-majority regions.
The BriefWire