Syrian protests (2016) | |||
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Part of the Syrian Civil War | |||
Date | 4 March 2016 – late April 2016 | ||
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The Syrian protests (2016) were a series of large-scale protests against the Syrian government and in support of the Syrian opposition taking place throughout opposition-controlled territory in Syria. The protests spread throughout the country due to the implementation of a partial ceasefire taking place after 27 February 2016. [6] The goal of the protests in 2016 was the resignation of president Bashar al-Assad. In addition, the activists demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, displaced people to be returned to their homes and adequate humanitarian aid. [7]
Over the course of the Syrian civil war there have been multiple ceasefires during the conflict. These are part of the ongoing Syrian peace process. The first ceasefire took place on 27th of february 2016, after United Nations Security Council unanimous adopted Resolution 2268 on february 26, 2016. [8] This resolution, among other things, called for a ceasefire, and access for humanitarian aid into Syria. It also presses for a Syrian owned political transition, in which the ''Syrian people will decide the future of Syria''. [8] The cease fire was mainly initiated by the United States and Russia, both countries backing opposite sides of the conflict. [6]
The Syrian opposition called for the demonstrations a week after the ceasefire under the slogan ''The Revolution Continues''. [9] Referring to the 2011 protests that took place before the outbreak of the civil war. [9] The protesters took advantage of the diminishing airstrikes due to the ceasefire, and took to the street demanding political change.
Due to the partial ceasefire, on 4 March 2016 there were anti-government protests in more than 104 locations throughout Syria, particularly in rebel-held territories in Azaz, Aleppo, Idlib, Ghouta, and Daraa. [10] The protesters waved Syrian independence flags and banners showing pro-revolutionary slogans such as "The revolution continues". The protests at the town of Maarrat al-Nu'man in Idlib Governorate were joined by several Free Syrian Army commanders, including Ahmad al-Saud of the 13th Division based in the town. [11]
On 7 March, anti-government protesters marched in the city of Idlib waving both the Syrian independence and white Shahada flags. Due to the presence of the independence flags, armed men from the Army of Conquest, which control the city, consisting of al-Nusra Front and Jund al-Aqsa dispersed the protests and threatened to open fire on the protesters.
The gunmen smashed cameras, confiscated flags, and arrested 10 of the protesters. Ahrar ash-Sham, another group in the Army, denounced the crackdown and stated that the masked men were not acting on behalf of the JaF. [12]
On 11 March 2016 around 200 protesters in Maarrat al-Nu'man in Idlib Governorate waved revolutionary flags and shouted slogans against Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government. Members of the al-Nusra Front then arrived on motorcycles and waved the Black Standard, shouting the takbir on the speakers, dispersing the protesters. [13]
On 12 March the 13th Division reportedly raided the al-Nusra headquarter in Maarrat al-Nu'man, and in response Nusra attacked the division's headquarters and its weapons depots, capturing small arms, ammunition, and, reportedly, BGM-71 TOW missiles, though the FSA denied it [14]
Since then, hundreds of protesters rallied against al-Qaeda in the town for more than three consecutive days. Some of the protesters torched Nusra buildings, while another group stormed into a Nusra-held building and freed some prisoners. [15]
By late June 2016, the protests against the al-Nusra Front in Maarat al-Nu'man have surpassed 100 days. As a result, al-Nusra released most of the arrested protesters and withdrew from the town center, remaining in 2 checkpoints in the outskirts. Al-Nusra continued to operate in the town through proxies in the Army of Conquest, and protests continued. [4]
On 12 March Syrian Kurds commemorated the 12th anniversary of the 2004 Qamishli riots in Qamishli, al-Hasakah. Protesters supporting the Kurdish National Council marched on the streets waving the flag of Kurdistan and the flag of the KDP, while PYD supporters waved the flag of Rojava, the PYD, and the YPG. The Kurds also held a football match in the city. [16] [ better source needed ]
In the city of as-Suwayda on 17 April, the 70th anniversary of the end of the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, mainly Druze protesters gathered in the streets and protested against the Syrian government, Iran, Russia, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The protesters raised photos of Sultan al-Atrash and other historical figures and spray-painted over Ba'athist symbols. [17]
Protests in the city continued on 21 April, when protesters continued the "You Broke Us" campaign and shouted slogans against the Syrian government. Hundreds of government supporters then organized a counter-protest and the Shabiha attempted to break up the pro-opposition protests. [18]
UN resolution 2268 was to be strictly implemented. However, the ceasefire would not apply to terrorist organisations, and US and Russian troops would work together to target these. [19] The fight against organizations like ISIS and Jabat al-Nusura would continue. [20] In reaction to the protests, the Assad regime would target specific towns and areas with airstrikes where political activism was organised. Justifying this by claiming that it was targeting terrorist groups, which were also present in civilian areas. [21] [22] Hospital personnel, children and rescue workers were among these civilian casualties. [23]
On april 19th, 2016 a group of Syrian activists called for a worldwide protest against the Assad regime and the Russian army targeting civilians. [21] The protest was organized through a facebook event and through Twitter. It got a lot of attention around the globe. The goal was to press the global powers to pressure the Assad regime and the Russian troops to stop bombarding civilian areas in Aleppo. The demonstrations took place in big cities, among which were Paris, New York, and Brussels. [23]
Idlib Governorate is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama Governorate to the south, and Latakia Governorate to the west. Reports of its area vary, depending on the source, from 5,933 km2 to 6,097 km2. The provincial capital is Idlib.
This is a broad timeline of the course of major events of the Syrian civil war. It only includes major territorial changes and attacks and does not include every event.
The Syrian Civil War is an intensely sectarian war. After the early years of cross-sectarian opposition to the rule of Bashar al-Assad, 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.
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya, commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition of multiple Islamist and Salafist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War. Ahrar al-Sham was led by Hassan Aboud until his death in 2014. In July 2013, Ahrar al-Sham had 10,000 to 20,000 fighters, which at the time made it the second most powerful unit fighting against al-Assad, after the Free Syrian Army. It was the principal organization operating under the umbrella of the Syrian Islamic Front and was a major component of the Islamic Front. With an estimated 20,000 fighters in 2015, Ahrar al-Sham became the largest rebel group in Syria after the Free Syrian Army became less powerful. Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam are the main rebel groups supported by Turkey. On 18 February 2018, Ahrar al-Sham merged with the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to form the Syrian Liberation Front.
The siege of Wadi Deif refers to the siege of two Syrian Army bases, Wadi Deif and Hamadiyah, by rebel forces, starting on 11 October 2012, during the Idlib Governorate clashes of the Syrian civil war.
The inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War has continued throughout the Syrian Civil War as factions of the Syrian opposition and Free Syrian Army have fought each other, with shifting alliances among various Islamist factions such as Jabhat al Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and the Islamic Front.
The 13th Division was a Syrian rebel group sanctioned by the Syrian National Council. It was among the first armed Syrian opposition groups to receive U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. The group's leader lieutenant colonel Ahmad al-Sa'oud said during an interview that the missiles were provided by the Friends of Syria, which also provided training on how to use the advanced weaponry. According to a spokesperson for the FSA's Supreme Military Council, the 13th Division was funded by sources within Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
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 Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war began in September 2015, after a request by Assad government for military aid against opposition militias and Islamic State (IS). The intervention was kick-started by extensive air strikes across Syria, focused on attacking opposition strongholds of Free Syrian militias of Revolutionary Command Council and Sunni militias under Army of Conquest coalition. In line with Ba'athist Syrian propaganda which denounces all armed resistance to its rule as "terrorism"; Syrian military chief Ali Abdullah Ayoub depicted Russian airstrikes as facilitating their campaign against terrorism. Russian special operations forces, military advisors and private military contractors like the Wagner Group were also sent to Syria to support the Assad regime, which was on the verge of collapse. Prior to the intervention, Russian involvement had been heavily invested in providing Assad with diplomatic cover and propping up the Syrian Arab Armed Forces with billions of dollars of arms and equipment. In December 2017, the Russian government announced that its troops would be deployed to Syria permanently.
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 13 March 2016, jihadist fighters from al-Nusra Front and Jund al-Aqsa launched an overnight attack against the 13th Division headquarters in the town of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man. According to social media activists in support of the Syrian opposition, Jabhat al-Nusra attacked Division 13 over local protesters and demonstrations.
Several attempts have been made to broker ceasefires in the Syrian Civil War.
Fares Bayoush is a former lieutenant colonel in the Syrian Arab Air Force who defected to the Free Syrian Army in 2012.
The al-Hasakah Governorate campaign was a multi-sided military conflict between Syrian government forces, Kurdish forces, armed Syrian opposition groups, and Salafist jihadist forces, including al-Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra Front in the al-Hasakah Governorate as part of the Syrian Civil War. The clashes began with the People's Protection Units (YPG)'s entrance into the civil war in July 2012 and spread across the governorate.
The 2019–2020 northwestern Syria offensive, codenamed "Dawn of Idlib 2," was a military operation launched by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other allied militias against Syrian opposition and allied fighters of the Syrian National Army, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Rouse the Believers Operations Room, the Turkistan Islamic Party, and other rebel and Salafi jihadist forces in Idlib and surrounding governorates during the Syrian civil war. The offensive began on 19 December 2019 and saw Russian-backed pro-Syrian government forces clash with Turkish-backed opposition groups along with leaving 980,000 civilians displaced.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2020. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian civil war.
The 2020 Kafr Takharim airstrike occurred on 26 October 2020 when the Russian Air Force targeted a training camp run by Faylaq al-Sham, a major Islamist Syrian rebel group backed by Turkey, near the town of Kafr Takharim located around 10 kilometers from the Turkish border. At the time of the attack, the camp contained more than 180 rebels affiliated with Faylaq al-Sham. At least 78 rebel fighters were killed and over 100 more were wounded in the airstrike.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2022. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in Casualties of the Syrian civil war.