UN envoy sees partition of Syria , fears IS's return
IS takes Ghouta town in surprise attack; 36 troops killed
Syria is heading for a catastrophic partition and could see the return of Islamic State if there is no inclusive peace settlement, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Monday.
"The truth is that a soft, long-term partition of Syria, which (is) the one that we are witnessing at the moment, in different areas of control, will be a catastrophe, not only for Syria but for the whole region," he told an audience at Geneva's Graduate Institute.
"Without an inclusive political process, including those who are excluded, particularly the majority, the Sunnis, Daesh will come back," he said, referring to Islamic State by its pejorative Arabic name.
De Mistura, holding up a map of Syria with different colours for territory held by different parties, said: "This is fragmentation, this is in fact a country which has areas under the influence of other countries."
“This is not sustainable, he added. "I believe at end of day Syria has to remain unified."
"Much of what we are seeing in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, in Yemen is connectable to the tectonic fight between one country and another: Iran and Saudi Arabia, Shia and Sunni. We cannot hide it," he said.
On the ground, Syrian regime and allied forces yesterday battled to suppress the last pockets of resistance in and around Damascus yesterday while the beleaguered Kurds in the north braced for further Turkish advances.
The simultaneous assaults have sparked one of the worst humanitarian emergencies since the start of the Syrian conflict seven years ago, with aid groups struggling to gain access to the masses of displaced civilians.
Washington has voiced concern that the chaos in Syria could allow a revival of the Islamic State group.
The jihadists launched a surprise nighttime attack in a southern neighbourhood of Damascus, moving into the vacuum left by a deal that saw another armed group pull out exactly a week ago.
"IS took full control of Qadam, and 36 government troops and loyalist fighters have been killed," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the regime was sending reinforcements to retake Qadam, which was attacked from the adjacent IS-controlled neighbourhood of Hajar al-Aswad.