News from Syria: a compact guide
News from Syria: a compact guide
The focus is back in Syria after a new rebel coalition one Surprise attack started, which entered the country's second largest city, Aleppo. This offensive is the first time since 2016 that opposition forces conquered in Aleppo Territory, and it breaks the patient situation in conflict that has existed for many years, which has never been officially ended. The renewed conflict has requested more than 300,000 lives and drove almost 6 million refugees out of the country. He also has far -reaching effects on the region and beyond.What happened in the civil war in Syria?
The climax of the Arab spring in 2011 Pro-Democratic demonstrators in Syria went on the streets and demanded the fall of the authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad. These protests were answered with fatal violence. When Assad and his troops pushed out the pro-democratic movement, an armed opposition began to form, consisting of small organized militias and some deserters from the Syrian military. The opposition forces were decentralized, had different ideologies, but a common goal: Assad's fall. They received various support from foreign powers, including neighboring Türkiye, the regional heavyweights of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as from the USA.
international support and the increase in extremist groups
With the growth of anti-government forces, Syria's allies, Iran and Russia, also strengthened their support. On site, the Iranian revolutionary guard together with the Lebanese militia Hisbollah helped in the fight against the armed rebels. In the air, the Syrian Air Force received reinforcements from Russian fighter planes. Extremist Islamists, including al-Qaida, began to show interest in Syria and combined with the moderate Syrian opposition, which, however, did not support jihadist participation. However, the extremists dominated until 2014, and the Islamic state (ISIS) spread in the country, which led to an international intervention, led by the United States to combat the group, but without challenging the Syrian regime. The Syrian democratic forces (SDF), a US partner that consists of Kurdish fighters, fought the territorial existence of this group against ISIS.
Current developments and restart of the conflict
reasons for the re -flaming of the conflict
The offensive began on Wednesday after the rebels had merged into a new coalition called "Military Operation Management". They quickly passed through villages outside of Aleppo and according to residents they now control a large part of the city with little resistance. The fighters state that they are trying to free the occupied territory and reacted to increased attacks by the government and pro-Iranian militia groups. The rebels may try to benefit from a weakened government, the main allies of which are busy with other conflicts. In 2022, Russia invased Ukraine and put massive resources into this war. At the same time, Iran suffered a number of attacks from Israel who hit Hisbollah hard. Analysts said that the Syrian rebels, the vacuum Hisbollah has been used to make progress in Syria.
Who are the rebels?
The new group consists of a wide range of opposition forces, from Islamist factions to moderate. The coalition is led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al Qaeda representative in Syria, which was previously known as an Al-Nusra front. This group officially cut the connections to al-Qaida and acts de facto as a ruler in Idlib. It was supported by groups that were previously supported by Turkey and the USA. The situation continues to be complicated because the SDF has taken over some of these positions. The SDF mainly consists of Kurdish fighters of the so -called Volks defense units (YPG), which previously fought against other Syrian opposition groups. The neighboring Türkiye sees the YPG as an expansion of a group that sees it as a terrorist organization.
This article was also made up by CNNS Eyad Kourdi, Ben Wedeman, Mostafa Salem and Christian Edwards.