Syrian civil war

Syrian civil war
Part of the Arab Spring and Arab Winter, spillover of the Iraqi civil war, war against the Islamic State, war on terror, Kurdish–Turkish conflict, Iran–Israel and Iran–Saudi proxy wars, and the Second Cold War
Top: A ruined neighborhood in Raqqa in 2017 Bottom: Military situation as of November 2024:      Syrian Arab Republic (SAAF)      Syrian Interim Government (SNA) & Turkish occupation      Syrian Free Army & American occupation      Syrian Salvation Government (HTS)[a]      Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (SDF)      Opposition groups in reconciliation                          Islamic State (full list of combatants, detailed map)
Date 15 March 2011 (2011-03-15)[b] – present (13 years, 8 months and 2 days) Location Syria (with spillovers in neighboring countries) Status Ongoing; ceasefire since 6 March 2020, with sporadic clashes Territorial changes As of 1 January 2023: the SAAF controlled 63.4% of Syrian territories; SDF controlled 25.6%; and Syrian opposition forces (SFA, SNA and HTS) controlled 11.0%.[9]
Belligerents
See full list
Casualties and losses
Total deaths 580,000[10]–617,910+[11] Civilian deaths 219,223–306,887+[c] Displaced people 6.7 million internally 6.6 million externally (refugees) (March 2021)[14]

This article is part of a series about Bashar al-Assad
Early life Family Personal life President of Syria Secretary-General of the Syrian Ba'ath Party (2000–) Marshal, Syrian Armed Forces (1988–) Presidency Damascus Spring Arab Spring Syrian civil war Syrian occupation of Lebanon Arab–Israeli conflict War against ISIS COVID-19 pandemic Presidential trips Governments Mero I Mero II Al-Otari Safar Hijab Al-Halqi I Al-Halqi II Khamis Arnous I Arnous II Elections 2000 2007 2014 2021 Media gallery
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Part of a series on
Ba'athism
Organisations Arab Ba'ath 1940–1947 Arab Ba'ath Movement 1940–1947 Ba'ath Party 1947–1966 Baath Party (pro-Iraqi) 1968–2003 Baath Party (pro-Syrian) 1966–present
People Zaki al-Arsuzi Michel Aflaq Salah al-Din al-Bitar Abdullah Rimawi Wahib al-Ghanim Fuad al-Rikabi Salah Jadid Hafez al-Assad Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Bashar al-Assad Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Literature On the Way of Resurrection The Battle for One Destiny The Genius of Arabic in Its Tongue
History Ba'athist Iraq Ramadan Revolution November 1963 coup d'état 17 July Revolution Iran–Iraq War Gulf War UN sanctions Iraq War De-Ba'athification Baathist Syria Syrian Committee to Help Iraq 1963 / 1966 coup d'états Corrective Revolution Intervention in Lebanon Syrian occupation of Lebanon Assadist-Saddamist conflict Syrian civil war
Regional organisations Algeria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Bahrain pro-Iraq pro-Syria Egypt pro-Iraq pro-Syria Iraq pro-Iraq pro-Syria Jordan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Kuwait pro-Iraq Lebanon pro-Iraq pro-Syria Libya pro-Iraq Mauritania pro-Iraq pro-Syria Palestine pro-Iraq pro-Syria Sudan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Syria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Tunisia pro-Iraq pro-Syria Yemen pro-Iraq pro-Syria
Splinter groups Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party 1960–1962/63 Socialist Lebanon 1965–1970 Arab Revolutionary Workers Party 1966–present Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party 1970–present Sudanese Ba'ath Party 2002–present
Related topics Arab nationalism Arab socialism Nasserism Pan-Arabism Saddamism
Politics portal Socialism portal
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The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided conflict in Syria involving various state-sponsored and non-state actors. In March 2011, popular discontent with the rule of Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region. After months of crackdown by the government's security apparatus, various armed rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army began forming across the country, marking the beginning of the Syrian insurgency. By mid-2012, the crisis had escalated into a full-blown civil war.

Rebel forces, receiving arms from NATO and Gulf Cooperation Council states, initially made significant advances against the government forces, who were receiving arms from Iran and Russia. Rebels captured the regional capitals of Raqqa in 2013 and Idlib in 2015. Consequently, Russia launched a military intervention in support of the government in September 2015, shifting the balance of the conflict. By late 2018, all rebel strongholds except parts of Idlib region had fallen to the government forces.

In 2014, the Islamic State group seized control of large parts of Eastern Syria and Western Iraq, prompting the U.S.-led CJTF coalition to launch an aerial bombing campaign against it, while providing ground support to the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces. Culminating in the Battle of Raqqa, the Islamic State was territorially defeated by late 2017. In August 2016, Turkey launched a multi-pronged invasion of northern Syria, in response to the creation of Rojava, while also fighting Islamic State and government forces in the process. Since the March 2020 Idlib ceasefire, frontline fighting has mostly subsided, but is characterized by regular skirmishes.

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