THE WarCivilSyria is a conflict that has been going on since the year 2011, being an offshoot of the Arab Spring protests — when the Syrian population began to express their dissatisfaction with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The government's violent reaction against the protesters led the opposition to arm themselves and fight against him.
After 10 years of conflict, it is still ongoing and there is no forecast for its end. This war is considered a true humanitarian disaster, with approximately 600,000 dead by the end of 2020. Millions of Syrians left the country, and the conflict received the intervention of different foreign nations.
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Syria before the war and the Arab Spring
Syria is a country that has been dictatorially controlled by the Al-Assad family since the 1970s. The country's presidency was occupied by Hafez al-Assad until 2000 and then it was occupied by his son,
Bashar al-Assad, after his death. Bashar al-Assad's government is marked by a lack of freedom and corruption, according to international observers.The lack of freedom in Syria motivated popular protests, at the turn of 2010 to 2011, through the SpringArabic — a series of popular demonstrations that started in Tunisia and spread to numerous countries in the North of the country. Africa and from the Middle East, seeking more democracy and better living conditions.
Protests against President Bashar al-Assad began in Deraa, a city located in southern Syrian territory, in March 2011. It all started when students made graffiti with slogans against the president. The graffiti said that Al-Assad would be the next ruler to fall (rulers had been overthrown in places like Libya and Egypt, for example).
The government did not like the graffiti and mobilized the Syrian secret police, which arrested, interrogated and tortured the students. The case shocked the population, who took to the streets to protest. Other big cities, besides Deraa, which had large popular protests were the capital, Damascus, and Aleppo, the biggest city in Syria.
The government's reaction to popular protests was violent, and the Syrian armed forces were used to quell them. This violence resulted in new protests, which continued to be repressed. Finally, opposition groups armed themselves and started armed confrontation against government troops.
Civil war
The armed groups that emerged in Syria were formed by deserters military who did not agree with the violence used by the government and by civilians who opposed it. These groups initially acted to drive government forces out of their cities, and soon the fighting between these three forces turned into civil war.
The first major opposition group to organize was the ArmyFreegivesSyria (ELS), officially created in July 2011. It was formed by civilians who were active in the demonstrations and by deserters military who did not agree with the violent repression of the government of Bashar al-Assad.
The Free Syrian Army was considered a secular group, as it did not advocate fundamentalist ideals. In addition, the ELS was fighting to overthrow the government of Bashar al-Assad and establish democracy in the country. However, there was a profound change in the ideological profile of this group.
Currently, ELS operates further north of Syrian territory and is considered a groupfundamentalist. Therefore, it is clear that the secular profile has been abandoned, and, in addition, the ELS has allied with Turkey, prioritizing its actions in the fight against the Kurds, an ethnic minority that inhabits the north of the territory Syrian.
Islamic state
The continuation of the war in Syria led to the self-proclaimed caliphate Islamic state (EI) to infiltrate that country from the end of 2013. Caliphate it is a type of Islamic kingdom that considers itself to be the direct successor of the Prophet Muhammad (as Muhammad is known among Muslims), who began the preaching of Islam in the seventh century.
the islamic state emerged in Iraq as an armed wing of theal-Qaeda, another Islamic fundamentalist organization that seeks prominence in the Middle East and which, in 2001, was responsible for the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, in the USA. However, there was a break between the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, which led it to act independently and in accordance with its interests.
So, in 2013, the group allied itself with organized fundamentalist rebel groups in Syria, with the war in progress. In 2014, the policy of the Islamic State changed, and the group broke with its allies in that country, starting to act independently. His followers attacked and dominated several Syrian cities, with the aim to expand your caliphate all over the world through the imposition of the sharia, Islamic law interpreted on the basis of the Qur'an.
In Syria, ISIS has imposed a strong persecution against any type of opposition or religious and ethnic minority, as was evident in large massacres against Yazidi (Kurdish) and Shiite populations, mainly. The independent position of the Islamic State caused this group to fight against different rebel groups in Syrian territory.
The growth of the Islamic State drew the attention not only of the Syrian authorities, but of the world, especially due to the terrorist attacks that this organization carried out in France. Thus, countries like the United States started to intervene in the conflict to fight IS. The Russians, allies of the Syrian government, also acted against this group.
Also, in northern Syria, the Kurds they organized to resist the advance of the Islamic State and received support from the United States to do so. The result of this sum of forces against ISIS was its weakening. He currently no longer controls any territory in Syria, but he is still watched closely by the international community.
other forces
In addition to the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic State, other groups active in the Syrian Civil War are:
- HayatTahriral-Sham: This group was once known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and as the Al-Nusra Front and was once the armed wing of al-Qaeda, but it broke relations with it. It is a fundamentalist Sunni group.
- Hurrays al-Din: are currently allies of al-Qaeda and have already fought against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. They are Sunni fundamentalists.
- People's Protection Unit: secular militia formed by Kurds. In May 2017, this group started to receive support from the US, and it fights, above all, against ISIS, but since the end of 2019, it has no longer received US support. They are constantly attacked by Turkey and the ELS, and they have allied with the Syrian government and Russia to ensure their survival. The territory occupied by the Kurds in northern Syria is known as Northern Syria Democratic Federation.
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foreign interference
The civil war in Syria remains ongoing even after 10 years of conflict, mainly due to intervention by foreign powers, which, through financial and military funding to groups active in the conflict, perpetuate the dispute in Syria. The countries that intervened the most in this conflict were the United States, the Russia and Turkey.
You StatesUnited they acted in the war, mainly in combat against the Islamic State and led thousands of air strikes against ISIS-dominated positions. Furthermore, in April 2017, the US attacked a Syrian government air base after accusing Bashar al-Assad of authorizing a chemical attack on civilians in Idlib province.
THE Russia has participated in the conflict since 2015, when he sent troops to work alongside Bashar al-Assad's army and prevent rebels and ISIS from defeating the government troops, who, at that time, were weakened. Russian forces carried out a series of bombing raids on positions held by rebels and ISIS. The Syrian government is an important Russian ally in the region.
Finally, the Turkey entered the conflict claiming to fight the growth of the Islamic State. However, there are allegations made by international observers who claim that she even bought oil from IS. In addition, this nation is fighting the militia formed by the Kurds, an ethnic minority historically persecuted in Turkey because of their separatist movement.
Many international observers point out that the Turks reinforced their attacks against the Kurds after the United States withdrew its support for that group. It is understood that Turkey's action is part of that country's strategy of placing itself as a military force and geopolitics in the Middle East, in addition to seeking to expand its territory at the expense of instability Syria.
Other countries like Iran and Israel also took part in the conflict. O Will it acts in defense of the government of Bashar al-Assad, a secular government, as its continuity is important to Iran's interests in the region. Iran is a Shiite nation and has an important ally in Lebanon, Syria's neighbor: the Hezbollah. The fall of Bashar al-Assad to Sunni groups would be a tragedy for Iranian interests.
Israel, in turn, acts in the civil war, mainly attacking positions of Hezbollah and Iranian forces, but eventually attacks positions dominated by the Syrian government. Israeli action focuses mainly on Hezbollah, with allegations that strengthening that group could be harmful to Israel's security.
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Consequences
The Syrian Civil War already has more than 10 years in duration, and such a long conflict has left and has left grave consequences for that country. The war has destroyed Syria, leaving large cities in rubble, and it has destroyed the country's educational, health and transportation system, which harms people's lives and the country's future.
The long duration of this conflict contributed to the impoverishmentofparents, and currently the majority of the Syrian population lives in poverty, many of them need humanitarian aid to access medical care and other basic items such as food and water. Not to mention the total number of human lives lost, which, until December 2020, was almost 600 thousand people.
The war also contributed to displace millions of people, since she forced them to move as a way to ensure your own safety. More than five million Syrians chose to leave their country and went to different places, such as Turkey, Lebanon, Germany, Greece, among others. Even Brazil received Syrian refugees, around four thousand.
Despite the long duration, the scenario for Syria's future is not encouraging, as international analysts do not see the possibility of ending the conflict anytime soon. This view is reinforced by the fact that neither the Syrian government, rebel groups, nor foreign powers signal the end of hostilities.
Image credits:
[1] John Wreford and Shutterstock
[2] thomas koch and Shutterstock