Syrian Civil War: A Timeline

How did we get here?

Syria gained the world's attention for its humanitarian crisis after killing at least 300,000 of its people and displacing more than 10 million due to its bloody civil war. Refugees are tossed and turned in and outside their war-torn country and other nations join in greater force to combat instigators. The people and their land are so devastated that the root of the Syrian conflict has become blurry.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - While military attacks are mostly against the Islamic State terror group, CNN reported the Syrian civil war began with graffiti, allegedly drawn by children from Daraa, southern Syria. Bashar al-Assad's regime arrested them and was suspected to have tortured the children February 2011 after they scrawled the words "the people want to topple the regime" at a school. 

The following month, more Syrians brought their protests to the streets nationwide, demanding the government to release political detainees and enact reforms. However, they were fired at by government forces, leaving dozens dead. The conflict between the regime and citizens grew until it penetrated the military ranks. In July 2011, a group of military officials defected and formed the rebel group Free Syrian Army to overthrow the dictatorship. A number of opposing political groups established the Syrian National Council, also to remove al-Assad.

 The international community joined major Western leaders from the U.S. and Europe, both of whom urged al-Assad to step down in August 2011. The countries believe Syria's future "must be determined by its own people," reported CNN, but in October, Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution which would have imposed an immediate halt to violence and would have enacted sanctions.

From December 2011 through February 2012, series of attacks from a growing number of rebels killed civilians. An extremist group linked to Al Qaeda experienced a growth in recruitment and Ayman al-Zawahiri praised Syria for waging "jihad." A cease fire plan introduced by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on April 2012 was never enacted.

June to July 2012, top U.N. officials accused Syria of engaging in crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, thousands of Syrians lost their homes, which prompting the establishment of Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. In August, U.S. President Obama said Assad will be crossing a red line if his regime decided to use advanced chemical weapons against its own people.

The U.S. promised food and medical supplies for Syrian rebels but refused to send military weapons. During that period in February 2013, at least 60,000 were reported dead and almost a million citizens were left to seek asylum in other nations.

Spring that year, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, announced its arrival to northern Syria by capturing Raqqa. May 2013, European countries joined other nations to support rebel groups by sending weapons and offered training. Russia, however, supported the regime by sending them arms as Hezbollah invaded to help al-Assad.

In August 2013, hundreds were killed outside Damascus due to a suspected chemical weapons attack. A year after his warning, Obama asked Congress to allow military operations against the regime. A month later, U.S. airstrikes bombarded the country. 

When asked what the regime can do to stop it, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Assad "could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week," which Russia then proposed to Syrian government. The talks temporarily halted U.S. military operations.

The Syrian death toll reached 140,000 by February 2014. That month the Syrian government, the opposition and a panel of world powers ended their second round of peace talks but found no solution.  In June, ISIS announced the caliphate's establishment from western Syria to eastern Iraq, after they seized Mosul in Iraq. American journalist James Foley was beheaded August 2014, along with a video of the decapitation.

The U.S. began airstrikes with ISIS tarkets in Syria on September 2014, including the Raqqa stronghold. On January 2015, the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters reclaimed Kobani, a town along the Syria-Turkey border, from ISIS. 

 However, the terror group captured Palmyra in May. They went on a destruction-spree against the ancient desert city's millennia-old temples and shrines. They also beheaded dozens at its amphitheater, including an antiquities expert who refusing to reveal the locations of other archaeological treasures.

September 2015, Russia launched its first airstrike in Syria. Less than a month later, Russian drones began to cause trouble for U.S. forces and in October China decided to join forces with Russia to support al-Assad.

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