News from Syria: a compact guide

News from Syria: a compact guide

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

In 2020, Russia and Turkey In the last remaining Opposition of Idlib to set up a security corridor with common patrols. Since then there have been no larger flar, but the Syrian government has never been able to regain its entire territory. However, the events in Aleppo show that armed resistance was never completely disappeared.

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.