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The conflict centers around Syrian President Bashar Assad, who took power in 2000 following his father's death. While citizens were at first hopeful that the young Assad would usher in a more democratic government, he quickly followed in his father's footsteps — leading with an iron fist, cracking down on dissent and protests and imprisoning political dissidents. As anti-government protests grew throughout the nation in the spring of 2011, violent clashes eventually spiraled into war, with pro- and anti-government factions increasingly split along sectarian lines.

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Chemical  attack
Rebellion
Killers
Weapon
Religion

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In March 2011 antigovernment protests broke out in Syria, inspired by a wave of similar demonstrations elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa that had already ousted the long-serving presidents of Tunisia and Egypt. In the southwestern city of Darʿā, several people were killed on March 18 when security forces opened fire on protesters who were angered by the arrest of several children for writing antigovernment graffiti. Protests continued, and on March 23 more than 20 people were killed when security forces fired into crowds and raided a mosque where protesters were gathered. Following the crackdown in Darʿā, Assad’s spokeswoman denied that the government had ordered security forces to shoot protesters.

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In March 2011 Syria’s government, led by Pres. Bashar al-Assad, faced an unprecedented challenge to its authority when pro-democracy protests erupted throughout the country. Protesters demanded an end to the authoritarian practices of the Assad regime, in place since Assad’s father,Ḥafiz al-Assad, became president in 1971. The Syrian government used violence to suppress demonstrations, making extensive use of police, military, and paramilitary forces. Amateur footage and eyewitness accounts, the primary sources of information in a country largely closed to foreign journalists, showed the Syrian security forces beating and killing protesters and firing indiscriminately into crowds. Opposition militias began to form in 2011, and by 2012 the conflict had expanded into a full-fledged civil war. In this special feature, Britannica provides a guide to the civil war and explores the historical and geographic context of the conflict.

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Syria has been going through a brutal civil war for four years now. And it doesn’t show signs of ending anytime soon. More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State.