Terrorism in Syria has a long history dating from the state-terrorism deployed by the Ba'athist government since its seizure of power through a violent coup in 1963. The Ba'athist government have since deployed various types of state terrorism; such as ethnic cleansing, forced deportations, massacres, summary executions, mass rapes and other forms of violence to maintain its totalitarian rule in Syria. The most extensive use of state terrorism in the 20th century was, the state deployed extensive violence against civilians, such as the case of 2004 Qamishli massacre. When Arab Spring spread to Syria in 2011, the Ba'athist security apparatus launched a brutal crackdown against peaceful protestors calling for freedom and dignity, which killed thousands of civilians and deteriorated the crisis into a full-scale civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, transnational Jihadist groups like Islamic State and al-Nusra began to emerge in Syria as the war escalated, some of which emulated the deadly terrorist tactics of the Assad regime.
The 19 September 2010 Baghdad bombings were a series of bomb attacks in Baghdad, Iraq that killed at least 31 people, in two neighbourhoods of the capital. Over a hundred more were wounded. On 24 September the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 23 December 2011, two seemingly coordinated bombings occurred in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The alleged suicide car bombs exploded outside Syrian military intelligence agency buildings, killing 44 people and injuring 166. According to Syrian state media, most of the dead were civilians. The attacks took place during the Syrian uprising. The Syrian government blamed Islamist militants, while the Syrian opposition accused the government of staging the attacks to justify its crackdown on the uprising.
On 6 January 2012, a bomb exploded in the Al-Midan district of Damascus, Syria. According to the Syrian government, a suicide bomber attacked buses carrying riot police shortly before an anti-government protest was to begin. It said that 26 people were killed and over 60 were injured. Most of the victims were civilians, though the Syrian government showed footage of what it claimed to be the funeral of 11 police officers killed in the attack.
On 10 February 2012, two large bombs exploded at Syrian security forces buildings in Aleppo. According to the Syrian government and state media, the blasts were caused by two suicide car bombs. It reported that 28 people were killed and 235 wounded. The bombings took place during the Syrian civil war and the government blamed armed opposition groups.
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.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2012. The majority of death tolls reported for each day comes from the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition activist group based in Syria, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another opposition group based in London.
The 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings were carried out using a pair of car bombs allegedly detonated by suicide bombers outside a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria. Combined, the perpetrators detonated more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) of explosives, tearing the facade off a 10-story building. With 55 people confirmed dead and almost 400 others injured, the attack was the deadliest bombing to date in the Syrian Civil War, though later outpaced by other events.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from September to December 2012. 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 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 January to April 2016. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
On 21 February 2016, two car bombs struck exploded in the predominantly Alawite neighborhood of al-Zahra in Homs, Syria. The bombings killed at least 57 people and injured more than 100 others. At least 60 surrounding buildings and dozens of cars were destroyed in the blasts.
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 July 2016 Qamishli bombings were a twin car bombing in a Rojavan-held district in the city of Qamishli, part of the al-Hasakah Governorate in Syria. The bombings killed more than 44 and more than 171 were wounded. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility. The city of Qamishli has been the site of multiple car bombings since 2015.
The SDF insurgency in northern Syria is a campaign of armed attacks carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), following the expansion of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria after the early 2018 Operation Olive Branch carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA).
