Squiz Shortcuts - Syria's civil war

Your Shortcut to Syria’s civil war

The civil war in Syria has flared up again after rebels launched an offensive last week into the country’s second-largest city, Aleppo. It’s a major development in a conflict that’s been simmering for 13 years. So, in this Squiz Shortcut, we’ll get you across:

• the history of the conflict

• what’s happened in the past week

• and why Aleppo is so important.

Prefer this in your ears?

Listen to our podcast 🎧

Listen time: 7 minutes

Reducing our exposure to plastics

You might have heard a bit of talk in the news recently about plastics and our health - and that scientists across the world are researching what plastic chemicals are doing to us. That includes research from the Minderoo Foundation and the University of Adelaide which showed the health effects linked to chemicals that are found in our everyday products, like drink bottles and teething toys. The good news is there’s plenty we can do to reduce our exposure... If you want to learn more about that, the Minderoo Foundation has you sorted.

Squiz the Shortcut

What’s happening in Syria?
A lot has changed in a week… Rebels have invaded the city of Aleppo - the second largest in Syria - and surrounding towns. So far, over 320 people including at least 44 civilians have died since the uprising began last Wednesday. 

Who are the rebels?
They’re called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - reports say they’re a jihadist alliance led by Al-Qaeda's former Syria branch. Together with other allied groups, they attacked from 2 sides of Aleppo, taking multiple villages and towns as they went. Reports say the assault was fast, co-ordinated, and left Syria’s troops with no option but to withdraw. As an aside, HTS is designated as a terrorist organisation by the Australian government.

Where exactly is Syria?
It’s a Middle Eastern country that borders the Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. It’s an ancient hub of commerce and culture with one of the oldest recorded civilisations on Earth.

Who’s in charge?
Since 2000, Syria has been ruled by President Bashar al-Assad, who took over from his father, Hafez al-Assad. But he’s faced a lot of unrest amongst the population since he took power.

Why is that?
Mostly due to the hard economic conditions, the fact he took over unopposed from his father, and a continuation of the authoritarian regime. But this particular civil war flared up around 2011, when the Arab spring happened.

Remind me what the Arab Spring was about?
That was a series of anti-government protests and uprisings across the Arab world in the early 2010s, mostly in response to tough economic times and authoritarian regimes. They began in Tunisia and spread to other countries including Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Syria. In some places, like Tunisia, the movement led to the establishment of a democracy. But some took a hardline approach….

How did Syria’s government respond?
Assad’s forces met the protests with deadly force. So those peaceful protests became a military rebellion, and the civil war began. Reports say the death toll from the war is estimated to be around half a million people.  

Have other countries become involved in Syria’s civil war?
Yep… the various international interests in the Syrian civil war means it’s often been described as a ‘proxy war’. For example, the Assad regime is backed by Iran, Russia and Hezbollah.

What about the rebels?
They’re made up of a wide range of groups that don’t necessarily all have the same goals, and they’ve been backed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. Occasionally they’ve been helped out by France and the UK. Around 2013, ISIS (or Islamic State) also got involved. They were initially looking to join up with the rebels, but they ended up fighting with each other - though they did also occasionally co-operate. And then there’s the US…

How was the US involved?
America has been involved with the conflict intermittently. Their main concern has been the presence of Islamic State, but they’ve also been very concerned - across multiple administrations - about the use of chemical weapons in Assad’s government.

How were chemical weapons used in the war?
They’ve been used by both the Syrian government and the groups associated with Islamic State to devastating effect. In one incident, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) says 1,127 people were killed in attacks by the Syrian regime using nerve agents in 2013. And nearly 6,000 others suffered from suffocation and respiratory problems. 

How was calm restored?
In 2016, Assad - backed by Russian airstrikes - took control of the city of Aleppo. It was a turning point in the war and Assad went on to claim about 70% of the country’s territory. A ceasefire was negotiated by Russia and Turkey in 2020, and things have remained relatively stable ever since.

Why have the rebels chosen to take back Aleppo?
Experts say it’s a significant win, given that’s where the balance of the war tipped in favour of Assad when he took control of the city in 2016. Some observers say the ease with which the rebels took the city shows the war could turn against Assad - especially given his allies - Russia, Iran, Hezbollah have been distracted. 

Is the timing significant?
Yep… Middle Eastern commentators say the rebels were biding their time to strike back at Assad’s regime and their attack was described in reports as “lightning fast”. Syria’s key allies of Iran and Russia have had their attention diverted with their own conflicts - Iran has been backing a significantly weakened Hezbollah to fight Israel, while Russia has been focused on its long-running war invasion of Ukraine. 

Where are things up to?
Russia didn’t take long to come to Syria’s aid - in recent days it’s launched airstrikes along with Syrian jets against the rebel strongholds, and those really stepped up over the weekend, particularly in the city of Idlib where at least 20 people were killed and more than 50 were injured. 

Do the rebels have support?
Turkey has condemned the strikes by Russia and Syria on Idlib where civilians were among the casualties. As with the peace deal brokered in 2020, negotiations between Russia and Turkey could be crucial to restoring calm… In the meantime, the rebels have made big gains, taking dozens of towns and villages along with most of Aleppo - that’s more ground than they’ve controlled since 2016. 

🎄It’s not too early for some Christmas picks…

We’re here to help this Squizmas with gift ideas for those you love…or maybe a treat just for you:

🌿Skipper - Eco-friendly home and body care, just add water. Build your own bundle and save up to $120.

✨Bescher Beauty - Skincare infused with sea cucumber collagen - 30% off and freebies on select buys.

🍷Naked Wines - Curate 12 bottles of Aussie and Kiwi wines and get $100 off your first case. Effortless gifting, sorted.

_{*If you buy products using these links, The Squiz could get a little commission.}

Recent Shortcuts