The Syrian Civil War, a devastating conflict that has been ongoing for over a decade, has its roots in a series of events that unfolded in early 2011. The conflict started with peaceful protests in March 2011, inspired by the wider "Arab Spring" movements across the Middle East and North Africa, that demanded political reforms and civil liberties.
The government's violent crackdown on these protests, led by President Bashar al-Assad, escalated the situation into a full-blown civil war. By July 2011, defectors from the military had formed the Free Syrian Army and begun armed resistance against the government. The conflict soon attracted international attention, with various countries taking sides and providing military support to different factions.
In August 2011, President Barack Obama of the United States declared that Assad had lost legitimacy and called for his resignation. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran provided military and financial support to the Assad regime, while the U.S., Turkey, and some Gulf states supported the opposition forces.
The conflict became even more complicated with the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in 2013, a jihadist group that took advantage of the power vacuum to seize large areas of Syria and Iraq. The group's brutal tactics and attempts to establish a caliphate led to an international coalition, spearheaded by the U.S., launching air strikes against IS in 2014.
The Syrian war has caused immense human suffering, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and millions displaced both within Syria and as refugees in other countries. The use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, confirmed by the United Nations in 2013, has been a particularly horrific aspect of the conflict.
Peace talks and ceasefires have been attempted multiple times, but have largely been unsuccessful. The conflict has also had a significant impact on the global stage, causing tensions between world powers and contributing to a global refugee crisis. Despite the fall of the IS 'caliphate' in 2019, the situation in Syria remains unstable, with ongoing fighting and a humanitarian crisis that continues to worsen.