Syria has witnessed nearly 14 years of civil war since 2011 that has led to over half a million people dead and millions more displaced.
But Syria is celebrating a historic moment right now with rebel forces having ousted President Bashar al-Assad, bringing an end to almost 53 years of brutal rule. All this happened in just around two weeks since rebel forces took control of Aleppo and made the Syrian military retreat in various areas.
Along with President Bashar Assad various other top officials have disappeared and their whereabouts are yet unknown.
Here we look at some of the biggest and historical moments Syria faced in the past decade.
June 30, 2014
The extremist militant group Islamic State or Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2014 declared itself a caliphate after gaining territory in Iraq and Syria with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as its leader.
According to a report by the CNA Corporation, a caliphate is “an Islamic form of government in which political and religious leadership is united, and the head of state (the Caliph) is a successor to the Prophet Muhammad.”
The refugee crisis worsened after this with the US launching air strikes on IS targets in Syrian territory.
September 25, 2015
Major global attention was brought to the Syrian refugee crisis when the body of a three-year-old boy called Alan Kurdi was found on a Turkish beach.
Also in 2015, Russia fired air strikes in Syria, with the official reason being that it was to target IS groups, however, reports claim that it was mostly about rebels going against the Assad regime.
Eventually, after almost four years, the government gained control of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city.
December 22, 2016
December of 2016 was the Syrian government’s biggest victory when they defeated the last of the rebel fighters in the city of Aleppo. The Russian air power is also said to have helped in this victory.
2017
The Islamic State is finally driven out from Al-Raqqah, considered to be its capital in Syria and Deir al-Zour after the Syrian Democratic Forces carried out a months-long attack.
The SDF is a U.S.-aligned predominantly Kurdish force and had the support of U.S. air strikes and special forces.
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2018
By 2018 the Syrian army had managed to recapture all the territory that had been taken by rebels, from the south to the borders of Jordan and Israeli-held territory. The SDF’s attacks further drove the Islamic State to the edge of the Iraqi border.
2019
A US raid in the Idlib Province reportedly led to the death of the Islamic State’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi where he was in hiding.
2020
The southern part of Syria also witnessed growing protests, especially against the economic distress that civilians were experiencing. This eventually led to former President Assad dismissing Prime Minister Imad Khamis.
2023
The 7th October attack in Israel was a turning point in the Syrian civil war. The attack led to Israel and Hezbollah fraction in Lebanon fighting with each other, which greatly reduced the latter’s presence in Syria and negatively impacted the Assad regime.
Hezbollah had several times helped the Syrian government in conquering territory, suppressing rebel movements, and more.
2024
From November 2024, Syria’s fate began to change. The first win came when the leading rebel force, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), overtook Aleppo’s city centre within just days of launching an offensive. By 29 November, government forces withdrew entirely from the city.
From there the rebel forces managed to take control of Daraa and Hom and on 7th December entered Damascus. This led to Assad fleeing out of the city and rebel forces finally declaring the end of the Assad regime and Damascus “liberated.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: BBC, Al Jazeera, The Hindu
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: syria, syria news, syria civil war, syria president, syria flag, syria president, syria rebels, syrian rebels, bashar al-assad, syria history, middle east, syria war, syria civil war news, damascus, syria al assad, assad regime
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