The Syrian Civil War is an intensely sectarian war. However, the initial phases of the uprising in 2011 featured a broad, cross-sectarian opposition to the rule of Bashar al-Assad, reflecting a collective desire for political reform and social justice, transcending ethnic and religious divisions. Over time, the civil war has largely transformed into a conflict between ruling minority Alawite government and allied Shi'a governments such as Iran; pitted against the country's Sunni Muslim majority who are aligned with the Syrian opposition and its Turkish and Persian Gulf state backers. Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and many hold high administrative positions, while Alawites and members of almost every minority have also been active on the rebel side.
Al-Nusra Front, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, was a Salafi jihadist organization fighting against Syrian government forces in the Syrian Civil War. Its aim was to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law in Syria.
'Adra is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located northeast of Damascus. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 20,559 in the 2004 census. The Hujr ibn Adi Mosque is located in the town.
Ma'an is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located north of Hama. Nearby localities include Suran to the southwest, Murik to the northwest, al-Tamaanah to the north, Atshan to the northeast, Tuleisa to the east, Fan al-Shamali to the southeast and Kawkab to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Ma'an had a population of 1,561 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Alawites.
Jaysh al-Islam, formerly known as Liwa al-Islam, is a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civil War.
The 2013 Latakia offensive was a campaign during the Syrian Civil War launched by rebel groups led by Salafi jihadists in the Latakia Governorate. The stated aim of the offensive was to conquer al-Haffah city, but government supporters assumed conquering Mount Nabi Younes was more likely the real aim. A calculated side effect may have been to spark more sectarian violence in Syria by carrying out a sectarian attack on an Alawite-majority area. The offensive began in early August 2013. During the campaign, rebel forces captured a dozen villages. However, in mid-August, the military counter-attacked and recaptured all of the territory previously lost to the rebels.
The Rif Dimashq offensive was a Syrian government forces and allies offensive in the Rif Dimashq Governorate, that was launched in mid-September 2013, as part of the Syrian Civil War.
The Rif Dimashq offensive was a Syrian government forces and allies offensive in the Rif Dimashq Governorate that was launched in late March 2013, as part of the Syrian Civil War.
The Battle of Sadad was fought during the Syrian Civil War, in October 2013, when rebel forces attacked the town of Sadad, an Orthodox-Christian Assyrian majority town. 46 local men, women, and children were killed by rebel forces during the battle.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war from August to December 2014. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
Zahran Alloush was a Syrian Islamist rebel leader who was the commander of Jaysh al-Islam, a major component of the Islamic Front, of which he was the military chief, and was described as one of the most powerful leaders in rebel-held Syria. He was killed in a joint Russian and Syrian airstrike on 25 December 2015 and was succeeded by Essam al-Buwaydhani as head of Jaysh al-Islam.
The Qalb Loze massacre was a massacre of Syrian Druze on 10 June 2015 in the village of Qalb Loze in Syria's northwestern Idlib Governorate. The village was under the control of a coalition of Islamist rebels, when a Tunisian commander of one group in the coalition, the al-Nusra Front, tried to confiscate the house of a villager accused of working for the Syrian government. When the villagers protested, Nusra fighters opened fire on the protesting villagers, who were accused of blasphemy. A Nusra fighter claimed the villagers opened fire first. In the end, 20 people, including elderly individuals and a child, were killed. Three al-Nusra fighters were also killed. Two days later, a report put the number of Druze killed at 24.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to July 2015. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from August to December 2015. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The siege of al-Fu'ah and Kefriya was a siege of the towns of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya in the Idlib Governorate, towns with majority Shia populations and controlled by the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war. The siege began with a Sunni Islamist rebel assault on the capital of the province in March 2015, resulting in the capture of Idlib. On 18 July 2018, the besieged government forces reached an agreement with Tahrir al-Sham-led rebels to evacuate them and civilians from the two towns.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2016. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The 2012–2013 escalation of the Syrian Civil War refers to the third phase of the Syrian Civil War, which gradually escalated from a UN-mediated cease fire attempt during April–May 2012 and deteriorated into radical violence, escalating the conflict level to a full-fledged civil war.
