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Syria's war enters its eighth year

Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/overseas/02/21/mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>A child walks near damaged buildings in the besieged town of Douma, Eastern Ghouta, Damascus, Syria February 20, 2018. Bassam Khabieh, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>From the bloody repression of peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad&#x27;s regime to foreign intervention, below are key dates in Syria&#x27;s civil war as it enters its eighth year.The complex conflict has left more than 350,000 people dead, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, while millions have been displaced and the country lies in ruins.Revolt and repression On March 15, 2011, unprecedented protests demand civil liberties and the release of political prisoners after four decades of repressive rule by the Assad family.Denouncing &quot;an armed rebellion by Salafist groups&quot;, the regime represses demonstrations in Damascus and the southern city of Daraa but protests continue.In July, defecting army colonel Riad al-Assad sets up the Turkey-based rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA). Islamist groups join the revolt.Air strikes, Hezbollah, Iran In March 2012, regime forces take control of the rebel stronghold in third city Homs after a month of bombardment. Other bloody operations are carried out, notably in the central city of Hama, after massive anti-regime protests.In July, FSA fighters launch a battle for Damascus but the government holds firm.From 2013, regime helicopters and planes unleash crude barrel bombs on rebel zones.The same year, Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah says it is fighting alongside Syrian government forces. Iran also boosts its military support for longtime ally Assad.Chemical weapons In August 2013, Washington accuses the regime of killing more than 1,400 people with chemical weapons in rebel-held districts near Damascus.In September, the United States and Assad ally Russia agree a plan to eliminate Syria&#x27;s chemical weapons, averting punitive US strikes against the regime.But forces on the ground, in particular from the regime, have been accused of using chemical weapons since.In April 2017, a sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun kills more than 80 people, prompting Washington to attack a regime air base.Rise of the jihadists In January 2014, hostilities between jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and rebel groups turn into an open war in the north.ISIL, the future Islamic State (IS) group, takes Raqa -- the first provincial capital to fall out of regime control -- from rebel forces.The jihadist offensive allows Damascus to justify its fight as a battle against &quot;terrorism&quot;. Coalition air strikes In September 2014, a US-led coalition launches air strikes against IS in Syria.The strikes benefit Kurdish groups, which since 2013 have run autonomous administrations in Kurdish-majority areas and go on to oust IS from key areas. Russia to Assad&#x27;s aid In September 2015, Russia launches air strikes in support of Assad&#x27;s troops, who are on the back foot.Russian firepower helps turn the tables for the regime, which begins to retake rebel-held territory, including second city Aleppo in late December 2016.In January 2017, Russia and Iran, as backers of the Syrian regime, and Turkey, a supporter of the rebels, organize talks in Kazakhstan, between representatives of both sides.The process leads to the creation of four so-called &quot;de-escalation zones,&quot; although sporadic fighting and bombardments continue.Turkish offensive In an added complication to the drawn-out conflict, Turkey launches an operation in January 2018 against the Kurdish People&#x27;s Protection Units (YPG) which, with US support, played a key role in beating back IS.The militia controls the Afrin region on the border with Turkey, and Ankara is wary of Kurdish aspirations for autonomy, labeling the YPG a &quot;terror group&quot;.Blitz of Eastern Ghouta On February 18, the Syrian regime launches a ferocious assault on the remaining rebel-held enclave near Damascus, Eastern Ghouta.In less than four weeks, the Russian-backed onslaught kills more than 1,220 civilians, a fifth of them children, according to the Observatory.

From the bloody repression of peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime to foreign intervention, below are key dates in Syria's civil war as it enters its eighth year.

From the bloody repression of peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime to foreign intervention, below are key dates in Syria's civil war as it enters its eighth year.