The Syrian Civil war is a conflict between its long-serving government and those seeking to boot it out of office.

The Assad family has held power in Syria since 1971. First it was Hafez al-Assad, then Bashar al-Assad.

More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-goverment protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war.

More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State.

This is the story of the civil war so far.



Source/Credits: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868

http://www.news.com.au/world/simple-points-to-help-you-understand-the-syria-conflict/story-fndir2ev-1226705155146

Pro-democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall.

Some were killed in detention, and this led to public protests which spread around the country fuelled by the failure of the government to punish the perpetrators.

After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets.

The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's resignation.

The government's use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve.

By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country.

Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to expel security forces from their local areas.

Explorers

Let me follow with the speed of light






#Explorer

Explorers......

Always on point....

Following...

Violence escalated and the country descended into civil war as rebel brigades were formed to battle government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside. Fighting reached the capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012.

By June 2013, the UN said 90,000 people had been killed in the conflict.

By August 2015, that figure had climbed to 250,000, according to activists and the UN.

The conflict is now more than just a battle between those for or against Mr Assad. It has acquired sectarian overtones, pitching the country's Sunni majority against the president's Shia Alawite sect, and drawn in regional and world powers.

The rise of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has added a further dimension.

A UN commission of inquiry has evidence that all parties to the conflict have committed war crimes including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances.

They have also been accused of using civilian suffering such as blocking access to food, water and health services through sieges as a method of war.

The UN Security Council has demanded all parties end the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas, but civilians continue to die in their thousands.

Many have been killed by barrel bombs dropped by government aircraft on gatherings in rebel-held areas attacks which the UN says may constitute massacres.

IS has also been accused by the UN of waging a campaign of terror. It has inflicted severe punishments on those who transgress or refuse to accept its rules, including hundreds of public executions and amputations.

Its fighters have also carried out mass killings of rival armed groups, members of the security forces and religious minorities, and beheaded hostages, including several Westerners.


To make matters more complicated, everyone now has different aims.

Hundreds of people were killed in August 2013 after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin were fired at several suburbs of Damascus.

Western powers said it could only have been carried out by Syria's government, but the government blamed rebel forces.

Facing the prospect of US military intervention, President Assad agreed to the complete removal and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.
The operation was completed the following year, but the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has continued to document the use of toxic chemicals in the conflict.

Investigators found chlorine was used "systematically and repeatedly" in deadly attacks on rebel-held areas between April and July 2014.

More than 4.5 million people have fled Syria since the start of the conflict, most of them women and children, the largest migration since WWII.

Neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history.

About 10% of Syrian refugees have sought safety in Europe, sowing political divisions as countries argue over sharing the burden.

A further 6.5 million people are internally displaced inside Syria, 1.2 million were driven from their homes in 2015 alone.

The UN says it will need $3.2bn to help the 13.5 million people, including 6 million children, who will require some form of humanitarian assistance inside Syria in 2016.

About 70% of the population is without access to adequate drinking water, one in three people are unable to meet their basic food needs, and more than 2 million children are out of school, and four out of five people live in poverty.

The warring parties have compounded the problems by refusing humanitarian agencies access to civilians in need.

Up to 4.5 million people in Syria live in hard-to-reach areas, including nearly 400,000 people in 15 besieged locations who do not have access to life-saving aid.

Figures.

Explorers:
Pro-democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall.

Some were killed in detention, and this led to public protests which spread around the country fuelled by the failure of the government to punish the perpetrators.

After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets.

The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad's resignation.

The government's use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters' resolve.

By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country.

Opposition supporters eventually began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and later to expel security forces from their local areas.

anytime I read or watch any news consigning the syria war,my heart always bleed for the innocent ones in the war torn zone.
I still blame the western countries(the so called friends of syria) for channeling arms to peaceful protesters which later transformed to deadly rebels.

Explorers pls how do u ganer information before compiling them for public delicacy. Any website or blog.

Her bedroom was ruined, but this woman was one of the lucky ones.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad.

The rally before the war: March 2011, Tens of thousands of Syrians gather for a pro-government rally at a central square in Damascus.

26 May 2012: People gather at a mass burial for the victims reportedly killed during an artillery barrage from Syrian forces in Houla.

UN observers in Syria confirmed that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential area, where at least 108 people, including many children, were killed.

A Syrian Air Force fighter plane fires a rocket during an air strike in the village of Tel Rafat, north of Aleppo.

Explorers:
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad.

I thought they are Muslims... Why is her hair open to the public.

winetapper:
I have just one question sir

There terrorist them no dey finish
After all theeeese years

These people are in Millions scattering over different countries, having same objectives. They're easily recruited, funded, arms&ammunitions littering the streets like phones in computer village, with their belief also.

Just like our BokoHaram, soldiers kill them everyday for almost 6years and we see on media that they keep killing soldiers and civilians on daily basis as well.

Hmmm

louiskay:
Explorers pls how do u ganer information before compiling them for public delicacy. Any website or blog.

When i have a topic in mind, i search for it.

Sometimes, from about 2 - 5 different sites, pick the points or facts from these sites, double or tripple check, copy, modify, and to Nairaland.

Sometimes, a topic can take 1 or 2 days before posting.

Explorers:


When i have a topic in mind, i search for it.

Sometimes, from about 2 - 5 different sites, pick the points or facts from these sites, double or tripple check, copy, modify, and to Nairaland.

Sometimes, a topic can take 1 or 2 days before posting.

Good job bro. I know it's an herculean task. God bless you for sharing knowledge.

Syrians cross under a fence into Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke.

An unexploded ordnance is seen on a street in the Ain Terma area in Ghouta, east of Damascus.

Great Job bro!
The last thinganyone would want is a War.
Lord Help.

Ayman al-Sahili, a Reuters cameraman, reacts after he was shot in the leg while filming on the front line in Aleppo by a sniper loyal to Syrian President Bashar el-Assad.

About 500 journalist have been killed.

The sheer scale of a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan.

A child in the rubble.

A 14-month-old girl is discovered in the rubble of a destroyed building after an airstrike.

A grief-stricken father with his child.