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Since March 2011, fighting has killed an estimated 465,000 Syrians, wounded one million more, and forced about 12 million people – or half the country’s prewar population – from their homes.
Eastern Ghouta, an area east of the capital Damascus, has been the focus of a fierce offensive by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in recent weeks, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths, including 215 children, and 145 women, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.
About 400,000 people had been living in the rebel-held enclave, which has been besieged by government forces for almost five years, resulting in few supplies reaching the desperate population.
Elsewhere, in northern Syria, Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels were deployed to the Kurdish enclave of Afrin to confront a US-backed Kurdish militia. The allied forces have now taken the main city of Afrin.
Eastern Ghouta
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Eastern Ghouta has been under siege since 2013. As the last rebel stronghold near the capital, it has become the target of relentless bombing by the Syrian government.
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Jaish al-Islam, Faylaq al-Rahman, and Ahrar al-Sham are the largest armed groups in control of the suburb.
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Al-Qaeda offshoot Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) also has a minor presence, which is unwelcomed by the other armed groups.
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As of February 28, the most intense bombing has been in the towns of Douma, Mesraba, and Harasta near the front lines.
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As of March 10, Mesraba has been taken under government control.
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As of March 13, the Syrian army’s campaign of air and artillery attacks has killed more than 1,100 civilians in nearly a month, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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Syrian forces have captured more than half the enclave, splintering it as they seek to crush the last major rebel bastion near the capital.
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As of March 28, at least 6,750 people have been evacuated from towns in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, marking the largest evacuation to date, according to state media.
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In previous evacuations about 6,000 people have already left the towns of Harasta, which was controlled by the Ahrar al-Sham rebel group, as well as Irbin, Zamalka, Jobar and the district of Ain Tarma, which were controlled by the Faylaq ar-Rahman rebel group.
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A convoy of 100 buses departed on Tuesday morning from the Irbin corridor towards rebel-held Idlib province in the north, state news agency Sana reported.
- A third rebel group in Eastern Ghouta’s Douma, the enclave’s biggest town, home to about 140,000 people, has refused to surrender and is still engaged in negotiations.
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Afrin
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As of March 18, the Turkish forces have taken control of the city of Afrin.
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Turkey – together with the FSA – launched in January the military operation into Afrin to vanquish the US-backed YPG fighters near its border, called Operation Olive Branch.
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“Many of the terrorists had turned tail and run away already,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in western Turkey on Sunday after he announced that Afrin’s city centre was captured at 8:30am local time (05:00 GMT) on the same day.
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President Erdogan announced Turkey’s plans to extend the operation: “We will continue this process until we entirely eliminate this corridor, including in Manbij, Ayn al-Arab, Tal Abyad, Ras al-Ayn and Qamishli,” the Turkish leader said.
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Defining the power players:
Syrian government
- Main cities under government control are: Aleppo, Latakia, Tartus, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Palmyra, Al Bukamal.
ISIL control
- After the battle for Raqqa, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) remains in control of the area near Al Bukamal, surrounded by government forces westward and Kurdish forces in the east.
Kurdish control
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Other groups fighting in Syria include Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Iran-backed Hezbollah, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
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They control: Raqqa, Qamishli, Hasakah.
Other groups
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The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a loose conglomeration of armed brigades formed in 2011 by defectors from the Syrian army and civilians aiming to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
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Since the battle of Aleppo, the FSA has remained in control of limited areas in northwestern Syria.
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Main cities: Idlib, and Douma, Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
