US and Russia hold peace plan talks brokered by Brahimi, ending without a breakthrough.
February Bombing in Damascus kills dozens of Ba’ath party members and others.
Rebels continue to make advances with the help of foreign arms. US and UK once again pledge non-military aid to rebels.
March Syrian planes bomb Raqqa after rebels seize control of the town.
Islamists set up the Eastern Council. Reports of Jabhat al-Nusra implementing Islamic Law.
Weapons flow in from Iran. Obama and Putin seek ‘New Syria Initiatives’ for peaceful resolution to the conflict.
EU vetoes Franco-British push to arm Syrian rebels.
UN says more than a million Syrians are now refugees.
Arab League gives Syria’s place to the National Coalition.
April Foreign jihadis in Syria grow in number with the appearance of Islamic State (ISIS). Its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announces merger with Jabhat al-Nusra, which is spurned by al-Nusra.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says his Shiite fighters are supporting Assad. UK and France report to UN that chemical weapons have been used by Assad.
UNSC reaches agreement on Syria, calling for an end to violence and condemning human rights violations.
US pledges additional $23 million in non-lethal aid to rebels.
May Air strikes hit a shipment of missiles from Iran in Damascus.
Car bombings and clashes leave 50 dead in bordering countries.
Hezbollah sends thousands of fighters to help Assad. EU lifts its arms embargo on Syrian opposition but keeps embargo on Assad regime.
UN says 4.25 million Syrians are displaced within Syria.
June Government recaptures the strategically important town of al-Qusair, between Homs and the Lebanese border.
Massacre of over 60 in Hatla by rebels.
UN says 93,000 have been killed in the conflict so far, revised a few days later to over 100,000. US says that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on several occasions in past 12 months and concludes that direct military support can be provided to rebels.
UN calls Syria the ‘worst humanitarian disaster’ since the Cold War.
July Saudi-backed Ahmed Jarba becomes leader of the National Coalition.
Government troops advance in Homs and occupy the Khalid Ibn Al-Walid mosque, a symbol for rebels.
The Syrian government begins a siege of Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus, leading to hundreds starving to death. Amnesty condemns the siege as a crime against humanity.
August Chemical weapons in a Damascus suburb kill 1,429 people in their sleep. Human Rights Watch (HRW) suspects sarin gas was used. UN weapons inspectors are sent in a few days later and come under fire from snipers. The use of chemical weapons forces Obama to consider a limited military strike with Congressional backing.
UK prime minister David Cameron also calls for a military response but this is rejected in parliament.
September Eleven of the biggest Islamist rebel groups reject the National Coalition’s aims and declare their goal of an Islamic state. Russia questions US intelligence on the chemical attack and issues a warning over US air strikes. Russia proposes a diplomatic solution with Syria signing the Chemical Weapons Convention. US agrees.
UN inspectors declare that they found ‘clear and convincing evidence’ of sarin gas being used.
UN resolution 2118, aiming to eliminate chemical weapons, is adopted unanimously.
October Inspectors arrive to begin destroying chemical weapons.
November Islamist rebels make gains in Deir Al-Zor province.
December 2.3 million refugees are confirmed in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, many living in refugee camps.
US and Britain suspend any support for rebels after Islamist rebels seize FSA bases.
Navi Pillay says UN fact-finding team has amassed evidence of the Syrian government’s complicity in war crimes to the ‘highest levels’.
* * *
2014: Heading for Stalemate
* * *
Date Inside Syria International Reaction
* * *
* * *
* * *
January UN temporarily stops reporting death tolls through inability to verify the information.
War crimes analysts say smuggled information shows torture and killing of prisoners on an ‘industrial scale’. Geneva II peace talks begin, including US, Russia, Syrian government and the National Coalition. No progress is made.
February Government barrel bombs kill almost 250 in Aleppo. Second round of Geneva peace talks fail.
US warns the war could become a ‘perpetual stalemate’.
March Syrian Army and Hezbollah recapture the rebel stronghold of Yabroud.
Israel launches air strikes on Syrian forces.
April Jordanian Air Force strikes a convoy near the border. Later reports suggest it may have been rebels seeking refuge from government troops.
May Rebels are evacuated from Homs, marking the end of three years of resistance in the city.
An HRW report claims that Assad’s forces have used chlorine gas bombs and barrel bombs on rebel-held areas. Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi resigns and apologizes for the failure of peace talks.
June General elections in government-held areas. Opposition groups and the international community describe them as a sham.
ISIS militants declare a ‘caliphate’ in territory stretching from Aleppo to the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.
July ISIS consolidates power and takes a large military base near Raqqa. UNSC votes to allow cross-border aid to victims of the conflict in rebel-held areas.
Staffan de Mistura is appointed UN Special Envoy to Syria.
August ISIS controls the entire Raqqa province.
US journalist James Foley is killed by ISIS in the first of a number of gory execution videos. US assembles an international anti-ISIS coalition in Paris.
UN says that ISIS has committed human rights abuses and atrocities.
September ISIS executes journalist Steven Sotloff.
The US and five Arab countries launch air strikes against ISIS around Aleppo and Raqqa. ISIS launches a huge assault on the Kurdish border enclave of Kobani. Obama authorizes air strikes in Syria against ISIS.
Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura visits Damascus.
October ISIS advances into Kobani but is pounded by Coalition air strikes.
Syrian government forces surround Aleppo, cutting off the main supply lines to the city.
Lebanon closes its borders to Syrian refugees after more than a million people flee there to escape the fighting. Special Envoy de Mistura calls for ‘freeze zones’ around Aleppo to allow humanitarian aid in.
November Jabhat al-Nusra pushes the Hazm Movement, an alliance of moderate Syrian rebels, out of Idlib province. The secular militia had been supplied with US weapons. NGOs say the international community must do more to help civilians fleeing the civil war. Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan are being overwhelmed by refugees.
Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura visits Damascus again.
December The Syrian government allows the World Health Organization (WHO) to deliver medical supplies to opposition areas.
The UN states that 76,000 have died in 2014, the deadliest year yet. Joint defence pact signed by 17 rebel leaders in southern Syria, hoping to attract more backing from Western countries and the Arab states.
* * *
2015: The Conflict Deepens
* * *
Date Inside Syria International Reaction
* * *
* * *
* * *
January Kurdish forces push ISIS out of Kobani on the Turkish border after four months of fighting.
Fighting intensifies around Damascus.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in the Golan Heights spills into Lebanon. Reports emerge that a number of Syrian rebel groups are no longer to receive aid through a covert CIA programme.
/>
February The Syrian government agrees to suspend air and artillery strikes on Aleppo as proposed by the UN. However it resumes a new offensive on 17 February, leading to the abandonment of ‘freeze zones’ on the same day that Staffan de Mistura was to brief UNSC on the proposal in New York.
HRW claims Assad is still using barrel bombs despite his denial.
Hazm announces it will disband after being defeated by Jabhat al-Nusra in Aleppo. ISIS release a video showing a captured Jordanian pilot being burnt alive. US and Turkey sign a deal to train and arm Syrian rebels fighting ISIS.
Staffan de Mistura announces that any political resolution will have to involve Assad.
Staffan de Mistura visits Damascus again.
March Opposition offensives push back government forces.
New Jaish al-Fatah (Army of Conquest) Islamist rebel alliance, backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, captures Idlib and threatens Latakia, a government stronghold.
Southern Front alliance of secular and Islamist groups takes the Jordanian border crossing at Nassib. The opposition rejects de Mistura’s call for ceasefire, saying it would only benefit Assad.
The UN and a global alliance of charities including Oxfam and Save the Children name 2014 as the worst year of the conflict yet. The international community is accused of failing the victims and doing little to mitigate the humanitarian disaster.
Ban Ki-Moon tells the Arab League he has instructed de Mistura to ‘operationalize and flesh out elements in the Geneva communiqué’.
April ISIS takes control of Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus, making conditions in the camp even more difficult. UN announces a series of talks with multiple regional and global parties to assess the possibility of restarting peace talks.
De Mistura invites Iran to participate in peace talks despite previous opposition threats to boycott any discussions including the Iranians.
May US carries out targeted air strikes against ISIS, killing a top ISIS official. ISIS now controls Palmyra, and effectively over 50% of the country.
Hezbollah states it sees ‘no end’ to the civil war. Low-level peace talks launched in Geneva, meeting with opposition representatives, Arab states, US, Russia and other regional and global stakeholders.
Over 30 Syrian opposition groups reject invitation to talks.
June Kurdish YPG forces seize the border town of Tal Abyad, in Raqqa province, an important link in the supply chain to Raqqa. ISIS kills at least 145 in Kobani, causing 60,000 to flee. De Mistura criticizes barrel bombs during a three-day visit to Damascus.
Geneva talks continue.
August–September An epic number of desperate refugees spill across the European border, seeking asylum.
October Russia steps up its military campaign in Syria. President Vladimir Putin denounces Washington for not being constructive.
* * *
The Syrian Civil War in Numbers
* * *
4 years + The time since the conflict started with the Syrian Day of Rage protests on 15 March 2011.
* * *
* * *
* * *
3 years + The time since the Red Cross declared the situation to be a civil war.
222,000 The number killed, according to the UN.
55 Current life expectancy in Syria, which has dropped by two decades since the war began.
3.9 million Refugees who have left Syria.
7.6 million Internally displaced people who are still living in the country but have abandoned their homes.
* * *
Index
A. (fixer), here
Abdullah (boy at refugee camp), here
Abidjan (Ivory Coast), here
Abu Suleiman al-Darani Mosque, here, here
Addounia TV channel, here
Afghanistan, here, here
al-Ahmad, Abeer, here, here
al-Ahmad, Bassam, here
Ahmed (FSA soldier), here
Ahrar Surya brigade, here
Akhmatova, Anna, here
Alawites, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
history of, here, here, here
Aleppo, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Arabic name for, here
barrel bombing, here, here, here
destruction of Old City and bazaar, here
ethnic and religious diversity, here
graveyard, here
history and archaeology, here, here
hospitals, here, here, here
increase in radicalization, here
named Islamic City of Culture, here
war begins, here, here, here
Almahatta district (Homs), here
Annan, Kofi, here, here, here
Antakya, here, here
Antonella (Syrian-American), here
Aramaic language, here, here
Armenian genocide, here
Art House concert, here
al-Assad, Asma, here, here
al-Assad, Bashar
and Assad family, here, here
and Darayya massacre, here, here
and political process, here, here, here
his portrait, here
promotes nationalist regime, here
seen as winning war, here
al-Assad, Bassel, here
al-Assad, Hafez, here, here, here
al-Assad, Na’saa, here
Atma refugee camp, here
Azaz, Micheline, here
Bab al-Sebaa district (Homs), here, here
destroyed church, here
Baba Amr district (Homs), here, here, here, here, here, here
Baba, General, here
Baghdad, here
barrel bombs, here, here, here, here
Barzeh district (Damascus), here, here
Basra, here
Beirut, battle of, here
Belgrade, here, here
‘Believers’ (followers of Assad), here
Benghazi, here
Berlin, battle of, here
Bosnia, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
death toll, here
Brahimi, Lakhdar, here, here, here
Buck, Joan Juliet, here
Burt, Alistair, here
Bustan al-Qasr district (Aleppo), here
Carla (Christian in Homs), here
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, here
Chechnya, here, here, here
China, here, here
Christians
in Aleppo, here
in Damascus, here
in Homs, here, here
in Ma’loula, here, here
Colvin, Marie, here
Congo, here, here
Dama Rose Hotel, here, here
Damascus, here, here, here, here, here, here
car bombs, here, here, here
elite support for Assad, here, here
rape in, here
two faces of, here
war begins, here, here, here, here, here
Damascus opera house, director of, here, here
Daraa, here, here, here
Darayya, here, here, here, here, here
Darwish, Mazen, here
Dayton Agreement, here
de Mistura, Staffan, here, here, here, here
detention law, French, here
Diab, Mahmoud, here, here
Dima (actress), here
diseases, return of, here
Douma district (Damascus), here, here
Druze, here, here, here
East Timor, here
Egyptian revolution, here, here, here, here
Facebook, here, here, here, here, here
Al Fawl, here
Fisk, Robert, here
Foley, Jim, here, here, here
‘foosball’, here
foreign fighters, here, here, here
Free Syrian Army, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
in Aleppo, here, here, here
, here, here
and Darayya massacre, here, here
in Homs Old City, here, here, here
in Zabadani, here
‘freeze zones’, here
Gaza, here, here
Geneva Convention, here
Geneva II talks, here, here
Great Syrian Revolt, here
Haitian earthquake, here, here
Hama, here, here, here, here, here, here
Handarat bakery, here
Hersey, John, here
Hezbollah, here, here, here, here
Homs, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
death of Marie Colvin, here
‘ordinary people’ in, here
refugees flee, here, here
refugees return, here
religious diversity, here
starvation in, here
war begins, here, here, here, here, here
Houla, here, here, here, here
Human Rights Watch, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Hussein, Saddam, here, here, here
Hussein (law student), here, here, here
Idlib, here
Independent, here
informers (awhyny), here
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), here
International Federation of Human Rights, here
International Rescue Committee report, here
Iran, here
Iraq, here, here, here
advance of Islamic State, here
border with Syria erased, here, here
ISESCO (Islamic Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), here
Islamic State (ISIS), here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here
adopts Raqqa as capital, here, here
advances in Iraq, here
kidnappings and beheadings, here, here
Israel, here, here
and torture, here
The Morning They Came for Us Page 17
