Syria's war and 12 years

 Syrian protesters first dared to take to the streets to voice their displeasure with the government and president, Bashar al-Assad, twelve years ago.

The protests quickly evolved into a revolution, calling for the "fall of the regime," but after the government responded violently, the uprising turned into a war, enlisting the help of several foreign powers, uprooting millions of people, and killing hundreds of thousands.

According to the World Food Programme, Syria's economy has deteriorated, and 90% of the country's people are now living below the poverty line.

More than 306,000 civilians have been killed in the nation since March 2011 according to UN estimates, or roughly 1.5% of the total population.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring organization based in the UK, pegs the death toll at roughly 610,000.

The UN had estimated that 14.6 million Syrians needed humanitarian aid before the earthquakes that wreaked havoc on northwest Syria in February, with 6.9 million people internally displaced and more than 5.4 million Syrian refugees living in neighboring countries. Thousands more requested asylum outside of the European Union, including in Germany and other nations. Although fighting sporadically persists, especially in the northwest, the conflict has largely frozen in the nation.

Here is a summary of the war's course, changes in territorial control, and current players.

how it began

Major unrest broke out in Deraa, Damascus, and Aleppo on March 15, 2011, with demonstrators calling for democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners.

The arrest and torture of a group of teenage boys for writing anti-Assad graffiti in the city of Deraa a few days prior sparked protests.

Government repression and a violent crackdown ensued. The Free Syrian Army was established in July 2011 by military defectors with the intention of overthrowing the government and escalating the uprising into a civil war.

2012 saw more demonstrations, and by 2013, numerous rebel groups had spread throughout the nation. Later that year, after capturing a sizable portion of Iraq, ISIL (ISIS) arose in northern and eastern Syria.

In Syria, several players are engaged in a power struggle.

Bashar al-Assad assumed control of the Syrian government in 2000, succeeding his father Hafez al-Assad, who had held that position since 1971.

He has a history of using chemical weapons against his people, oppressing dissidents, and imprisoning and torturing thousands of people. He has also ruled the nation with an iron fist.

Syrian National Army (SNA)/Free Syrian Army (FSA)

The FSA is a loose coalition of armed brigades established in 2011 by civilians and army defectors from Syria with support from Turkey and several Gulf states.

The FSA has continued to hold a small portion of Idlib in northwest Syria under its control since the Battle of Aleppo in December 2016.

The Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra were previously known as HTS.

In 2011, Jabhat al-Nusra was established in Syria as an al-Qaeda affiliate within the anti-al-Assad political movement.

In January 2017, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham changed its name to Hay'at Tahrir-al-Sham after joining forces with several other organizations.

HTS claims to be "an independent entity that follows no organization or party" at the moment.

Hezbollah

Shia political and armed organization Hezbollah is based in Lebanon and is supported by Iran. It entered Syria to aid Al-forces Assad but does not currently possess any land there.

The Democratic Forces of Syria (SDF)

In 2015, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab militias was established.

Its main constituents are YPG fighters, with smaller contingents of Arab, Turkmen, and Armenian combatants.

Turkey views the YPG, which makes up the majority of the SDF forces, as a continuation of the PKK, which has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish government since 1984 that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

The three principal cities governed by the SDF are Hasakkeh, Qamishli, and Raqqa.

ISIL (ISIS) (ISIS)

ISIL ascended to power in Syria after 2012 as civil unrest grew, and it is primarily known for the brutality of its foreign fighters, organized government systems, and strong social media presence. By 2014, it had established a "caliphate" and used force to seize a sizable amount of territory.

The "caliphate" of ISIL was destroyed in March 2019, but the threat of its resurgence remains in the area. At its height in 2014, it had roughly one-third of control over both Iraq and Syria.

Russia

Russia has consistently supported the Syrian government, especially after al-Assad asked for military intervention in 2015 as opposition forces drew nearer to Damascus.

Russian forces halted the opposition's advance, but doing so came at a high cost to civilians. In particular, airstrikes killed civilians, and there were reports that hospitals were hit.

With military bases under its control and a government that depends on Russia for survival, Moscow is now firmly established in Syria.

Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, and al-Assad once shared close ties, but in 2011, Turkey quickly sided with the Syrian opposition and served as a base for opposition figures.

Its primary military actions in Syria, however, have been directed at eliminating threats to its internal security.

The initial operation, which took place in 2016, mainly focused on ISIL (ISIS), but since then, the SDF/YPG has come under scrutiny. Large portions of northwestern Syria along the border have come under Turkish control due to the operations, and Ankara continues to threaten another operation to establish a "safe zone" along the Turkey-Syria border.

The United States

As part of its initial strategy to remove al-Assad, the US initially supported the Syrian opposition. The Syrian government was not directly attacked until a 2017 missile raid in response to reports of government use of chemical weapons against civilians.

However, it has primarily focused on fighting ISIL (ISIS) in Syria. In 2014, it started attacking ISIL as well as forces affiliated with al-Qaeda in Syria with a coalition of allies.

US forces are still patrolling northeastern Syria with the SDF, which it supports. The Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where it has trained opposition fighters, is also used by forces.

Iran

Al-longtime Assad's ally Iran immediately sided with him when the protests started. Since then, both the Iranian military presence in Syria and the number of fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan who have received Iranian training have increased. These groups have been charged with violating human rights and have played a key role in supporting the Syrian government.

Iran is charged by the US with supporting militia groups that have attacked US troops stationed in Iran.

The cost of war or damage-

Aleppo

Aleppo, which had nearly three million residents at its peak, was a major industrial and economic center in northwest Syria.

When it retook the vital city in December 2016, the Syrian army achieved its greatest triumph over the rebels. Since the start of the unrest in 2012, the city had been split in two and was governed by rebels.

Ghouta, Eastern

Eastern Ghouta is located 10 kilometers (six miles) east of Damascus.

Areas that had been held by opposition fighters since 2012 were once again under the control of the Syrian army in 2018, following a fierce seven-week offensive that left much of the city in ruins.

Raqqa

After the Syrian uprising began in 2011, Raqqa, a city on the Euphrates River in northern Syria, became the first governorate capital to come under opposition control. ISIL (ISIS) overran the city in 2014 and proclaimed it as its capital.

During the anti-ISIL operation between 2016 and 2017, airstrikes by the US-led coalition wreaked havoc on Raqqa and numerous villages and towns in the province. According to some estimates, the city's infrastructure was nearly destroyed, and between 70 and 80 percent of the city was destroyed.

Palmyra

Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site in central Syria, was taken by ISIL twice: once in May 2015 and once in December of the following year.

The Temple of Bel, the Temple of Baal Shamin, the Arch of Triumph, and columns in the Valley of the Tombs were among the numerous ancient wonders that the group destroyed.

The city was retaken by the Syrian army in March 2017 with the assistance of allies and Russian warplanes. Deir z or

Deir Az Zor, an oil-rich governorate in the country's east that borders Iraq, was taken over by ISIL in 2014. In November 2017, the SDF assisted the Syrian government forces in capturing the main city. It served as ISIL's final urban stronghold in the nation.

Idlib

More than three million people, the majority of whom are internally displaced, reside in the governorate of Idlib on Syria's western border with Turkey. Since the start of the unrest, Syrian opposition forces have held a large portion of the region under control, but the government has tightened the noose around it.

terrible earthquakes

Deadly earthquakes with their epicenter just across the border in southeast Turkey destroyed large portions of northwest Syria, adding to the suffering brought on by the war.

After the earthquakes, workers in civil defense used their newly acquired skills to rescue survivors from the wreckage of buildings hit by airstrikes.

Though that number is anticipated to rise, particularly in opposition-controlled areas, which were some of the worst affected, more than 7,200 people are reported to have perished so far in both government and opposition-controlled areas of Syria.

Is there any rehabilitation of al-Assad?

After brutally attacking the Syrian opposition in 2011, al-Assad was isolated by the majority of Arab nations and the majority of the international community. However, some Arab nations are now slowly rehabilitating him.

Before al-Assad was welcomed in Abu Dhabi in March of last year—his first official visit to an Arab nation since the start of the war—the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus.

Following the earthquakes in February, many Arab nations appear to now be accepting that al-Assad will remain in power and have intensified their efforts to win him back.

Politicians from nations like Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Oman have since paid visits to Syria, and there is even talk of Syria being re-admitted into the Arab League.