Syria conflict has not yet ended, says UN envoy

Geir Pedersen expresses grave concerns over recent hostilities in the war-ravaged country

A Syrian rebel fighter sits in a 'Management of Liberated Areas' authority office in Maaret al-Numan, in the northwestern Syrian Idlib province.AFP

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The UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on Tuesday that the conflict in the country has not yet ended, highlighting recent clashes in the north involving Turkish-backed forces and Kurdish groups, and Israeli incursions into Syrian territory.

Mr Pedersen told the UN Security Council from Damascus of armed opposition groups operating independently of the military command, particularly elements within the Syrian National Army, largely under the Syrian National Coalition's control.

He said significant areas, including parts of north-eastern Syria and neighbourhoods in Aleppo city, are still held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, with support from the US.

The briefing marked the council’s first open meeting since the December 8 removal of former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad after a major offensive launched by rebel forces, involving Hayat Tahrir Al Sham and the Syrian National Army, a coalition of armed groups believed to be backed by Turkey.

Syrians attend the first Friday prayer after the fall of Assad

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The envoy expressed grave concerns over the recent hostilities that persisted until a ceasefire was established between Turkey and US-backed rebels two weeks ago. Washington supports the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which Ankara equates to Kurdish secessionists who have been fighting against the Turkish state for decades.

“A five-day ceasefire has now expired and I am seriously concerned about reports of military build-ups,” Mr Pedersen said. “Such an escalation could be catastrophic.”

He said Israel had conducted more than 350 strikes on Syria after the fall of the former regime, including a major strike on Tartus, and called on Israel to stop all settlement activity in the occupied Golan Heights, declaring it "illegal".

"Attacks on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity must stop," said Mr Pedersen.

Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya criticised Israel for recent attacks, saying they were launched under the "artificial pretext of self-defence". He said Israel's operations aimed to dismantle the country's defences.

"There is also the land incursion by the Israeli forces in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights," he said. "The argument that the peacekeepers need to be protected sound very cynical, given that the peacekeepers currently are essentially very deep behind Israeli lines."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security briefing at the top of a strategic hill inside the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized this month.

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Mr Pedersen briefed Security Council members on his discussions with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham leader Ahmad Al Shara and various Syrian factions.

He outlined several challenges facing Syria, emphasising the critical need to launch an inclusive political process, rehabilitate state institutions, bolster humanitarian aid for Syrians and returning refugees, pursue justice and accountability for crimes, and foster economic recovery.

“These are enormous challenges that will require all of our support … in terms of economic development, reconstruction and a process to address and ultimately end sanctions,” he said.

Mr Nebenzya said it is up to the Syrian people, in all of its ethnic and religious diversity, to decide the future of their country, which is "quite uncertain, given the internal lack of stability".

"The territorial integrity of this country is more vulnerable now than ever. There's a real risk of its becoming a number of cantons broken down by ethnic and religious characteristics," he said.

Moscow is allied to Mr Al Assad, and the former Syrian leader has taken shelter in Russia with his family.