Syria

Understand

Syria's war began in March 2011, when security forces met mass protests against President Bashar al-Assad with force. The uprising became a multi-sided civil war. Government forces were backed by Russia and Iran. Armed opposition factions were backed in part by Turkey. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) partnered with the US against the Islamic State group, which seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014. Millions of Syrians fled the country, and millions more were displaced inside it.

On December 8, 2024, an offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Assad, who fled to Russia. HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa became interim president and heads a transitional government in Damascus. The transition has been marked by sectarian violence, including killings of Alawites on the coast in March 2025 and deadly clashes involving Druze communities in Sweida in July 2025. After Assad's fall, Israel moved troops into the UN-patrolled separation zone created by the 1974 disengagement agreement and beyond it, and has carried out repeated strikes since.

The northeast followed a separate track. Under a March 10, 2025 agreement, the SDF agreed to merge its civil and military institutions into the state, but implementation stalled. In January 2026 government forces launched an offensive that took Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces, the Tabqa dam and major oil fields. Ceasefires followed, and a comprehensive integration agreement was reached on January 29, 2026.

Parties

• Syrian transitional government Led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa since the fall of Assad in December 2024.
• Islamic State Cells remain active in the central desert and the east.
• Israel Holds positions in southern Syria and strikes Syrian territory; color is not a judgment.
• Druze factions in Sweida (National Guard) Loyal to Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri and outside government control; color is not a judgment.
• Former SDF Kurdish-led force that announced its dissolution and merger into the Syrian army in August 2026.
• United States Mediates Israel-Syria talks and has lifted most sanctions on Syria.

Analysis

As of early October 2026, the government in Damascus controls most of Syria. The SDF announced its dissolution on August 25, 2026, saying its forces had been merged into Syrian army brigades, and government security forces deployed into Hasakah province in early September. The main area outside government control is part of Sweida province, held by Druze factions loyal to Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri. His armed National Guard, a grouping of local factions, rejects integration with the state.

Israel's military holds positions inside southern Syria and continues to strike Syrian territory, including an August 18, 2026 strike on Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib. US-mediated talks on a security arrangement, including a session in Jordan on August 24, 2026, have not produced a signed agreement. At the UN General Assembly on September 23, 2026, al-Sharaa said Israel had carried out 500 airstrikes, more than 1,200 incursions and 300 detentions, and called for a withdrawal to pre-December 2024 lines. Israel says its operations protect its border and the Druze minority.

Sanctions relief has advanced. The US repealed the Caesar Act in December 2025 and removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on August 24, 2026. Islamic State cells remain active in the central desert and the east, and a UN estimate puts the group's fighters in Syria at up to 3,000. Al-Hol camp closed in February 2026, but thousands of former residents are unaccounted for. Large numbers of refugees and displaced people have returned home, while millions remain displaced.

What to watch

• Whether Israel and Syria sign a US-mediated security arrangement for the south
• Whether former SDF units and institutions remain integrated in the northeast
• Whether Damascus and Druze leaders in Sweida reach a settlement
• Islamic State activity in the desert and the fate of unaccounted former al-Hol residents

Data

Parties

Transitional government; Israel; Islamic State; Druze factions in Sweida

Began

March 2011

Assad ousted

December 8, 2024

SDF dissolution announced

August 25, 2026

Internally displaced

UNHCR: 5.5 million (March 2026)

Refugee returns

UNHCR: over 1.5 million since December 2024 (March 2026)

Territorial control for this theatre is derived from openly licensed settlement-control data and rebuilt daily (4 snapshots held). Download: control.json (GeoJSON inside; CC BY-SA 4.0).

Timeline

1. 2011-03Protests against Bashar al-Assad are met with force, starting the uprising that became a civil war.
2. 2024-12-08An HTS-led offensive topples Assad, who flees to Russia.
3. 2025-03-10Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi sign an agreement to integrate northeastern institutions into the state.
4. 2025-12-18The US repeals the Caesar Act as part of its annual defense authorization law.
5. 2026-01-13Government forces launch an offensive in the northeast that takes Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces.
6. 2026-01-29The government and the SDF reach a comprehensive ceasefire and integration agreement.
7. 2026-08-24The US removes Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
8. 2026-08-25The SDF announces its dissolution and merger into the Syrian army.

Live events, aircraft and thermal anomalies for every theatre are published as GeoJSON on the data endpoints page.