Saddening videos and images of the horrors taking place in Syria have been flooding social media for a while now. Although many people know that the situation in Syria is dire, many people have absolutely no idea what the conflict is about.
The conflict in Syria traces its roots back to 1971, when the Assad family came into power. Hafez al-Assad was the first member of the family to lead, followed by Bashar al-Assad. The Assad family are Alawites, meaning they follow a small sect of Islam that isn't seen much outside of Syria and Turkey. Although the Assad regime is still quite popular among middle-class Syrians, there are many who are not content with the way the government is being run. Initially, the rebels in the Syrian Civil War were dissatisfied with their government, due to social and economical promises having not been met.
There are two key events that allowed the Syrian conflict to take off : the first is that the Syrian public was outraged over the imprisonment of anti-regime graffiti painting youths. Some of the children that were imprisoned were killed while in custody. The killers were never charged, causing protests and demonstrations around the country. These events occurred in March 2011.
Concurrently, neighboring nations were also facing political unrest. Multiple theories state that due to the political uprisings in surrounding nations, Syrian rebels were inspired to protest for much needed change. Protests and demonstrations were met with attacks from the Syrian Army, thus causing the rebellion that is currently taking place.
Image Courtesy of Emaze
Around July of 2011, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was created. The FSA was made up of local militias, who were made up of various local area tribes, as well as military deserters. The members of the FSA had one common goal: to rid the country of the Assad regime. Despite the formation of the FSA however, there was no centralized command of the rebellion, resulting in a severe lack of coordination.
When the FSA was created, the majority of its members were focused on economic and social justice within Syria; however, jihadists and rebels from other regions soon joined the fight, allowing their own various political agenda to come into play. The FSA needed more manpower and thus accepted just about anyone willing to join.
Image Courtesy of The Independent
Due to there being no centralized command for the FSA, the various militias that it is comprised of have determined their own strategies for toppling the Assad Regime. Keep in mind, the Assad Dynasty is made up of Alawite Muslims. Various rebel groups have absolutely massacred innocent Alawite civilians. About 7 entire Alawute villages have been slaughtered. Sadly, both sides are committing unspeakable atrocities against innocent civilians, making the Syrian Civil War a very delicate situation.
Image Courtesy of ABC News
Currently, Syrian and Russian military forces are attempting to take back areas controlled by rebels. Most recently, social media has been flooded with images of the destruction of Aleppo, which was once a massive commercial hub for Syria. Government airstrikes have completely knocked out every hospital within the city, forcing medical staff to construct makeshift medical treatment facilities.
As of December 2016, the governments of both Turkey and Russia (who are on opposing sides of the war), have called for a cease-fire in order to end the destruction that has consumed Syria for nearly 5 years. The United States and Russia have attempted cease fires before, but to no avail. Supplies and aid cannot come to the affected areas until a cease-fire is reached, making supplies scarce for those who are still left in the nation. The conflict in Syria has claimed an estimated over 400,000 lives, while displacing millions more.
