Syrian Insurgency — How it all started and whats happening now
Syria is a country in western Asia. Since 2000, Bashar alAssad is the president of Syria. Syria’s capital and largest city is Damascus.
How it all started
Everything started in 2011 in the city of Deraa when 15 school children were arrested and tortured for writing anti-government(read as anti-Assad) graffiti on a wall. Protest arose which demanded the release of children and greater freedom for people. The army open-fired to the protest on 18th March 2011, killing four people. Soon the anti-government feelings spread throughout the country and they demanded that President Bashar alAssad resign. The government fought off their own people brutally. The opposition popularly known as rebels started retaliation with weapons. Red cross in July 2012 said Syria is at a civil war.
In 2011, Islamic State(IS) declared war against Assad. IS is an extremist, violent group. By 2014 the group had successfully taken over a large area of Iraq and moved towards eastern Syria and was successful there too. Separate battle is being fought against IS by Assad and rebels.
In August 2013, it was reported that chemical weapons were used against the people in the city of Ghotua. Chemical weapons are prohibited to be used in wars and amounts to war crime. Assad denied their involvement in chemical
attacks.
In September 2013, Russia and US agreed upon a framework for elimination of Syrian chemical weapon stockpile which is approximated to be at 1000 tons of sarin, mustard agent and VX nerve agent. People working in this project were awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.
In April 2017, another chemical attack was carried out. US and UK blamed Assad but Assad denied their involvement. Russia said rebels were responsible for the
attack.
So whats happening now.
Eastern Ghouta, which is near to the capital Damascus has been a stronghold for rebels. The Syrian government has been trying to capture Eastern Ghouta. On February 19, Syria bombed Eastern Ghouta which killed hundreds of people. It is said that the victims in Eastern Ghouta is showing symptoms of Chlorine poisoning. 700 civilian casualties are reported which includes 185 children and 109 women.
Putin ordered a 5 hour ( 7:00–12:00 GMT) ceasefire daily to facilitate civilian evacuation on Tuesday (27 February). But air and artillery strikes are reported. Activists said government jets led the attack, while Russia accused rebels. Civilian evacuation operations are suspended. It is beleived to be that 400000 people are . 500 people have been killed since the government intensified the bombardment on February 19 in an attempt to retake Ghouta.
It is estimated that 500000+ people have been killed in Syria since 2011. There is also a popular conspiracy theory which accuses Qatar, USA and Saudi Arabia for the instabilities in Syria. It is based on an oil field
spanning Iran and Qatar.
Sources: Wikipedia, BBC, Al Jazeera
