Syria Crisis / Syrian Uprising

The Syrian Civil War, also known as the Syrian Uprising, is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba'ath government and those seeking to oust it. The unrest began on 15 March 2011, with popular protests that grew nationwide by April 2011. These protests were part of the wider North African and Middle Eastern protest movements known as the Arab Spring. Syrian protesters at first demanded democratic and economic reform within the framework of the existing government.

In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising and soldiers fired on demonstrators across the country. After months of military sieges, the protests evolved into an armed rebellion. The conflict is asymmetrical, with clashes taking place in many towns and cities across the country. In 2013, Hezbollah entered the war in support of the Syrian army. The Syrian government is further upheld by military support from Russia, which it stepped up in the winter of 2013-14, and Iran, while Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United States transfer weapons to the rebels. By July 2013, the Syrian government was in control of approximately 30-40 % of the country's territory and 60% of the Syrian population. 

A late 2012 UN report described the conflict as being "overtly sectarian in nature", between mostly Alawite government forces, militias and other Shia groups fighting largely against Sunni - dominated rebel groups, though both opposition and government forces denied that.

According to the United Nations, the death toll surpassed 1,00,000 in June 2013, and reached 1,20,000 by September 2013. In addition, tens of thousands of protesters, students, liberal activists and human rights advocates have been imprisoned and there are reports of widespread torture and terror in state prisons. International organizations have accused both government and opposition forces of severe human rights violations. The UN and Amnesty International's inspections and probes in Syria determined both in 2012 and 2013 that the vast majority of abuses are done by the Syrian government; whose are also largest in scale. The severity of the humanitarian disaster in Syria has been outlined by UN and many international organizations. More than four million Syrians have been displaced, more than three million Syrians fled the country and became refugees, and millions more were left in poor living conditions with shortage of food and drinking water. The situation is especially bad in the Palestinian Yarmouk Camp, where 20,000 residents are facing death by starvation.

Chemical weapons have also been used in Syria on more than one occasion, triggering strong international reactions. Syria has researched, manufactured, and used weapons of mass destruction. On September 14, 2013, the United States and Russia announced an agreement that would lead to the elimination of Syria's chemical weapon stockpiles by mid-2014. In October 2013, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) - UN Joint Mission destroyed all of Syria's declared chemical weapons manufacturing and mixing equipment.