Syrian Civil War Essays

Words: 1013
Pages: 5

ECPSC- 2013
CURRENT AFFAIRS HANDOUT - 11

SYRIAN CIVIL WAR
Gen
1. The Syrian civil war also commonly known as the Syrian uprising is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Baath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were part of the wider Middle Eastern protest movement known as the Arab Spring. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held the presidency in Syria since 1971, as well as the end to over four decades of Baath Party rule. In April 2011, the Syrian Army was deployed to quell the uprising. After months of military sieges, the

9. By October 2012, up to 28,000 people had been reported missing, including civilians forcibly abducted by government troops or security forces. According to the UN, about 1.2 million Syrians have been displaced within the country. To escape the violence, as many as 1 million Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries.
10. On 11 January 2013, Islamist groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, took full control of the strategic Taftanaz Air Base in the Northern Idlib Province, after weeks of fighting. The air base, one of the largest in Northern Syria, was often used by the military to carry out helicopter raids and deliver supplies.
11. By February 2013, Islamist rebels captured the town of Al-Thawrah in Raqqa province and the nearby Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam and a key source of hydroelectricity. In the same month, rebel forces took control of Jarrah air base, located 60 kilometres east of Aleppo.
12. By end of March 2013, intense clashes between rebels and the Syrian Army erupted in the north-central city of Raqqa, with many reportedly killed on both sides, rebels had overrun Raqqa's central prison, allowing them to free hundreds of prisoners and subsequently capturing city Raqqa, effectively making it the first provincial capital to be lost by the Assad regime. Rebel also seized the
3
38th Division Air Defence base in Southern Daraa Province near a strategic highway linking Damascus to Jordan.
Implications for India