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Who's Fighting Who?

A guide to the conflict in Syria.

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Who's Fighting Who?
Business Insider

The death toll in Syria has now risen to over 470,000 casualties according to the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCRP). With the recent intervention by Russia in an effort to prop up the Assad regime, the death toll has continued to rise. The Assad regime and its Russian allies regularly engage in indiscriminate killing in the form of sarin gas, barrel bombing, and executions. The rebellion that began in March of 2011 has since collapsed.

Aleppo has now fallen, and the situation in Syria has become increasingly complex. It's a civil war between the people of Syria and those loyal to Assad's dictatorship, it's a proxy war between the United States, and Russia and Iran, and it's an opportunity that ISIS has taken to wage war with its own twisted ideology. With such a complex conflict, a lot of the information surrounding it can become extremely confusing. So, let's break it down.

Key Players & Who They’re Fighting

Pro-Government Forces:

Syrian Army: Primarily fighting Sunni-majority opposition for control of the population. Also fighting the Islamic State when necessary.

Iran: Arms Hezbollah soldiers while recruiting Afghan and Pakistani migrants and refugees in Syria to fight against the rebels. Is helping to keep Syria afloat economically.

Russia: Is propping up the Assad regime. Is providing the Assad regime with air power to help them take back rebel-held territory.

Hezbollah: Primarily fighting Sunni opposition forces.

Foreign Shia Militias: Primarily fighting Sunni opposition forces including those backed by the United States.

Opposition Forces:

Free Syrian Army: Fighting against the Syrian Army and its allies in order to oust dictator Bashar al-Assad from power.

Nationalist Jihadi’s: Fighting the Assad regime and its allies, and have clashed from time to time with former al-Qaeda branch Jabhat al-Nursra, the Free Syrian Army, the Islamic State, and the YPG.

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham: Fighting the Assad regime and its allies, in addition to the Islamic State.

United States: Training and equipping opposition forces that are fighting the Islamic State and the Assad regime. Their main goal is to force Assad to negotiate a transfer of power. Using airstrikes to beat back the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations.

Turkey: Primarily concerned with blocking the emergence of a free Kurdish region in the north of Syria. Removing Bashar al-Assad from power, and defeating the Islamic State are secondary goals

Arab Gulf States: Primarily concerned with keeping Iran in check as it looks to expand its control over the Arab world. They seek the overthrow of the Assad regime. A secondary concern is the Islamic State, who they are also fighting.

Kurdish People’s Protection Units: Primarily fighting the Islamic State in northern Syria along the Turkish border. Is backed by the United States.

Other Players:

The Islamic State: Primarily fighting against the Kurdish YPG, but is at war with virtually every other major player in the complex conflict in Syria.

Kurdish People’s Protection Units: Primarily fighting the Islamic State in northern Syria along the Turkish border. Is backed by the United States

Click the chart and the map for a deeper look.

Key Events Timeline:

  • March 2011: Pro-democracy protests in the Syrian city of Derra turn violent after the arrest and torture of a group of teenagers who painted revolutionary graffiti on a school building. Security forces sent to quell the dissent opened fire on the crowd, killing several protestors. More protestors take to the streets, demanding President Assad’s resignation.

Demonstrators protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after Friday prayers in Hula near Homs, on January 6, 2012.

  • April 2011: Protests spread to dozens of cities. Assad begins a heavy crackdown and vows to destroy what he calls “terrorists.” Hundreds are killed by government security forces, including 120 in Daraa, Damascus, on “Bloody Friday."
  • May 2011: Asaad furthers his crackdown on the protests, deploying tanks and military personnel to Daraa, Homs, Banyas, and Damascus. Iran is rumored to be supporting the Assad regime with arms and supplies.
  • June 2011: Protestors claim control of the city of Jisr al-Shughour in north-eastern Syria with the help of police and military defectors. Assad pledges to begin dialogue on reform
  • July 2011: Assad removes the governor of Hama after a huge demonstration takes place. Hundreds of civilians are killed in the city. President Obama announces that Assad has “lost legitimacy.” The military defectors announce the creation of the Free Syrian Army.
  • Soldiers of the Free Syrian Army, formed by army deserters, take position in an undisclosed location in Syria, on December 7, 2011.

  • February 2012: Assad regime intensifies its offensive on the city of Homs and other rebel-controlled areas.
  • March 2012: UN Security Council creates non-binding peace plan supported by the U.S, China, and Russia.
  • July 2012: The Free Syrian Army blow up three security chiefs in Damascus and then take control of Aleppo.
  • August 2013- Assad regime launches missiles containing sarin gas on a Damascus suburb, killing 1400 civilians. Human Rights Watch concludes that evidence strongly suggests the Assad regime used sarin gas on civilians. UN inspectors reach the same conclusion after conducting a separate investigation. President Obama seeks congressional approval for military intervention in Syria. U.K Prime Minister, David Cameron, calls for a military response as well but is blocked in a parliamentary vote.
  • A man holds the body of a dead child after a chemical attack in Damascus.

    • January to February 2014: UN peace talks fail in Geneva after Syrian officials refuse to discuss the possibility of a transitional government.
    • June 2014: Islamic State of Iraq and Syria declares a caliphate in the territory from Aleppo to Iraqi province Diyala.
    • September 2014: Five Arab countries, in cooperation with the United States, launch air strikes against the Islamic State near Aleppo and Raqqa.
    • September 2015: Russia carries out airstrikes in Syria claiming they are targeting the Islamic State; despite overwhelming evidence, they are targeting the Free Syrian Army.

    A damaged street with sandbags used as barriers in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district on March 6, 2015

  • March 2015: Syrian Army retakes control of the city of Homs after 4 years under rebel control.
  • December 2016: Assad’s forces retake the rebel-held stronghold of Aleppo while being backed by Russian air support and Iranian-sponsored militias
  • January 2017: Russia, Turkey, and Iran agree to a ceasefire between rebels and government forces after peace talks in Kazakhstan.Click this graphic for a deeper look
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