Syrian Civil War |
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Part of the Arab Spring, the Arab Winter, and the spillover of the Iraqi conflict |
Date | 15 March 2011 (2011-03-15) – present (13 years, 2 months and 4 days) |
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Location | Syria (with spillovers in neighboring countries) |
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Status |
Ongoing |
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Territorial changes |
As of 31 March 2020: the Syrian Armed Forces held 63.57% of Syrian territories; SDF 25.57%; rebel groups (incl. HTS) & Turkey 9.72%; ISIL 1.14%[1] |
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Actors |
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Hezbollah Iran Russia (2015–present)
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Turkey[b] (2016–present)
Salvation Government (Tahrir al-Sham)[d][e]
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- YPG/YPJ
- Other armed groups
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Commanders and leaders |
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- Abdul Qader Saleh (Founder of al-Tawhid Brigade)[39]
- Abu Yahia al-Hamawi
- Ahmed Issa al-Sheikh (Islamic Front leader, 2012–2015)[40]
- Abu Mohammad al-Julani[44]
- Abu Jaber Shaykh
- Abu Humam al-Shami[45]
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- Abu Firas al-Suri (Spokesperson of al-Nusra Front)[46][47]
- Abu Hajer al-Homsi (al-Nusra Front military chief)[48]
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- Muhsin al-Fadhli (Leader of Khorasan)[49]
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- Haji Bakr (Former Deputy leader of ISIL & Head of Military Council)[51]
- Abu Ayman al-Iraqi (Former Head of Military Council)[52]
- Abu Ali al-Anbari (Deputy, Syria)[53]
- Abu Omar al-Shishani (War Minister)[54]
- Abu Umar al-Tunisi (Senior Leader)[55]
- Abu Sayyaf (Oil Minister)[56]
- Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (Deputy Leader)[57]
- Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi (Head of Military Council)[58]
- Gulmurod Khalimov (Minister of War)[59]
- Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi
(Leader of the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army, 2016–17)[60]
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- Muhammad al-Baridi (Founder of Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade)[61]
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- Riad Darar
- Amina Omar[62]
(MSD Co-chairperson July 2018 – present)
- Salih Muhammad (PYD Co-President until 2017)
- Shahoz Hasan (PYD Co-President 2017–present)
- Asya Abdullah
(PYD Co-President)
- Sipan Hemo (YPG Comdr.)
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- Abu Layla (Comdr. of Syrian Democratic Forces)[64]
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- Adnan Abu Amjad (Comdr. of the Manbij Military Council)[65]
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Units involved |
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See order |
See order |
See order |
See order |
Strength |
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Syrian Armed Forces: 180,000[66]
General Security Directorate: 8,000[67]
National Defense Force: 80,000[68]
Ba'ath Brigades: 7,000
Hezbollah: 6,000–8,000[69]
Liwa Al-Quds: 4,000–8,000
Russia: 4,000 troops[70] & 1,000 contractors[71]
Iran: 3,000–5,000[69][72]
Other allied groups: 20,000+ |
Free Syrian Army: 20,000–32,000[73] (2013) Islamic Front: 40,000–70,000[74][75] (2014)
Other groups: 12,500[76] (2015)
Turkish Armed Forces: 4,000–8,000[77][78]
Ahrar al-Sham: 18,000–20,000+[79][80] (March 2017)
Tahrir al-Sham: 31,000[81] |
15,000–20,000 (per U.S., late 2016)[82] |
SDF: 60,000–75,000 (2017 est.)
- YPG & YPJ: 20,000–30,000 (2017 est.)
- Syriac Military Council (MFS): 1,000 (2017 est.)
- Al-Sanadid Forces: 2,000–4,000 (2017 est.)
- SDF Military Councils: 10,000+[86][87][88]
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Casualties and losses |
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Syrian Arab Republic:
65,187–100,187 soldiers killed[89][90]
50,484–64,484 militiamen killed[89][90] 4,700 soldiers/militiamen & 2,000 supporters captured[89]
Hezbollah: 1,677–2,000 killed[89][91]
Russia: 116 soldiers[92] & 186–280 PMCs killed[93]
Other non-Syrian fighters: 8,109 killed[89] (2,300–3,500+ IRGC-led)[94][95] |
132,824–173,824 killed[f][89][90]
Turkey: 182 killed (2016–19 incursions)[96][97][98] |
28,532+ killed (per SOHR)[99] 20,711+ killed (per YPG & SAA)[100][101] |
SDF: 11,600–12,586+ killed[102][103]
CJTF–OIR: 11 killed[104] |
112,623[89]–117,377[105] civilian deaths documented by opposition 100 other foreign soldiers killed ( 60, 17 (pre-'16), 16, 7)
Total killed: 503,064-613,407 (per SOHR)[106]
Estimated ≥7,600,000 internally displaced & ≥5,116,097 refugees (July 2015/2017) [107]
a Since early 2013, the FSA has been decentralized with its name being arbitrarily used by various rebels.
b Turkey provided arms support to rebels since 2011 & since Aug. 2016 fought alongside the TFSA in the Aleppo governorate vs. the SDF, ISIL & Syrian gov.
c Sep.–Nov. 2016: U.S. fought with the TFSA in Aleppo governorate solely against ISIL.[108][109] In 2017–18, the U.S. purposely attacked the Syrian gov. 10 times, while in Sep. 2016 it accidentally hit a Syrian base, killing ≥100 SAA soldiers. Syria maintains this was intentional.[110]
d Predecessors of HTS (al-Nusra Front) & ISIL (ISI) were allied al-Qaeda branches until April 2013. Al-Nusra Front rejected an ISI-proposed merger into ISIL & al-Qaeda cut all affiliation with ISIL in Feb. 2014.
e Ahrir al-Sham's predecessor, Syrian Liberation Front, and Tahrir al-Sham's predecessor, al-Nusra Front, were allied under the Army of Conquest from March 2015 to January 2017.
f Number includes Kurdish & ISIL fighters, whose deaths are also listed in their separate columns.[111][89]
g Iraq's involvement in Syria is limited to airstrikes against ISIL & are coordinated with the Syrian gov.[2] |