Chronicle of the civil war in Syria 2013

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  • Cities held by the Syrian security forces
  • Cities conquered by rebels
  • Contested cities or unclear situation
  • Cities held by Kurdish forces
    • Syrian Arab Republic flag used by the government.

    The 2013 Chronicle of the Syrian Civil War records the events of the Syrian civil war in 2013.

    January

    With the help of Islamist units, Syrian rebels captured the military airfield in Taftanaz in the north-west of the country on January 11th . The Syrian armed forces then tried to destroy the airfield.

    On January 31, according to Western media, Israeli fighter jets attacked a convoy of vehicles, according to Syrian media, a military camp near Damascus and, according to the Syrian government, killed two soldiers. The target is said to have been a load of SA-17 missiles that Israelis feared could reach Lebanon. Israeli authorities did not comment on the attack.

    February

    A donor conference hosted by Kuwait raised $ 1.5 billion for needy Syrians. The number of refugees in neighboring countries is 650,000 people.

    Meanwhile , Israel attacked an arms transport from Syria to Lebanon around February 14, according to opposition figures. The Iranian general of the Pasdaran , Hassan Schateri, was killed in the attack by the Israeli air force. Besides Shateri, who operated under the code name Hessam Choschnewis in Lebanon, other Iranians were also killed. The US sees Schateri as "an accomplice to the Lebanese Hezbollah". As a result, Syria and Iran threatened retaliatory attacks. According to Lebanese information, the Syrian air defense shot down an Israeli drone. In addition, according to the rebels, Hezbollah is said to have interfered in the civil war.

    March

    On March 1, 2013, at a meeting between the Secretary General of the United Nations and a representative of the Arab League, the number of people who have so far fallen victim to the Syrian civil war was around 70,000. 900,000 people fled the conflict in neighboring countries.

    On March 4, 2013, the rebels reported the capture of the provincial capital ar-Raqqah in the east of the country.

    On March 15, 2013, arms deliveries to the Syrian rebels were debated at the EU summit in Brussels . Representatives of France and Great Britain spoke in advance for arms deliveries to the Syrian rebels. Germany, on the other hand, fears an escalation if the EU gives up its arms embargo or does not extend it beyond May 2013. There is then the risk that the other side will also be supplied with even more weapons.

    On March 22, 2013, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in a mosque in Damascus, killing a Sunni cleric and 41 others. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army denied any involvement of his organization in the attack.

    On March 24, 2013, Israeli troops fired an anti-tank missile at a military post on Syrian territory after Israeli soldiers had been fired with infantry weapons the night before. It is unclear whether the attackers on the Syrian side could be assigned to the rebels or the Syrian government troops and whether they suffered losses.

    On March 25, rebel groups that had established themselves in the southern and western parts of the capital fired mortars into the city center . Mortar shells hit a hotel where UN monitors were stationed. The UN then withdrew its personnel from the Syrian capital.

    On March 28, there was another mortar attack by the rebels, in which a university building in Damascus was hit. About 20 students were killed.

    April

    On April 8, a bomb attack was carried out in Damascus . State media said at least 15 people were killed and 50 others were injured.

    The flags of both sides

    On April 18, President Assad spoke up in a television interview and warned that the support of the rebels by the West would ultimately, as in Afghanistan, be directed against the West and that the rebels would carry out future terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe and the USA. Jordan , which has been a staging area and fulcrum for rebel supplies since 2012, predicted a fate similar to Syria for Assad.

    On April 20, after weeks of fighting, government troops regained control of Darya, a suburb of Damascus. In addition to regular troops, they are said to have used religious militias and secret service associations. The insurgents announced that they had withdrawn their 300 fighters from the trapped area on April 20, but government forces had killed hundreds of civilians in Darya.

    On April 22, two bishops , one from the Syrian Orthodox Church and one from the Greek Orthodox Church , who were on a humanitarian mission near Aleppo, were kidnapped by armed attackers in Kafr Dael. The government and rebels each accused the other side of the crime. In the following days there were contradicting reports about a possible release of the two Christian clergy .

    On April 23, there were attacks on Alawites in Tripoli, Lebanon . Two leading Lebanese clergy called on their supporters to fight on the side of the rebels in Syria or to support them with money.

    On April 24, the collapsed minaret of the Umayyad Mosque from the 11th century in Aleppo one, after rebels and pro-government troops in the vicinity of the church battles were delivered for months over again, where the building complex had been hit by numerous bullets and Fire was damaged. Both sides accused each other of the destruction of cultural heritage.

    In the early morning of April 25, rebels, after having lost ground in recent weeks, launched attacks on the city of Hama, which had so far been largely spared from fighting. The aim is to take the government's military pressure off comrades-in-arms in other parts of Syria, said a spokesman.

    On April 25, US officials announced that they had evidence of chemical weapons use in the Syrian Civil War. In two cases, a small amount of sarin was used. Which side would have used the poison gas is unclear; but it was probably the government. The evidence will be further examined and all options will be kept open.

    On April 29, Syria's Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi was the target of a bomb attack in Damascus, but survived the attack unharmed while one of his bodyguards was killed.

    On April 30, Syrian state television reported that “terrorists” had rounded up residents in Sarakeb and exposed them to a powdery substance that had led to attacks of suffocation and convulsions. The injured were brought to Turkey so that the government could prove the use of chemical weapons on the international stage.

    May

    On May 2, 2013, on the border between Syria and Turkey near Akçakale, there was a shooting between the Turkish border police and strangers who had initially requested entry into Turkey from the Syrian side of the border. The attackers have not been identified, but Turkish authorities believe they are smugglers, while a spokesman for the Syrian opposition announced that two FSA fighters were killed in the clash. Five Turkish border police officers were injured.

    On May 3, rebels attacked a bus carrying members of pro-government militias, killing 6 militiamen and injuring around 20. In return, government troops fired mortars and stormed the nearby coastal town of Baida in Tartus Governorate , a Sunni enclave in the largely Alawite-dominated region. At least 50 people are said to have been killed, many of them civilians.

    Flag of Hezbollah

    On May 3, Israeli fighter planes attacked an arsenal on Syrian soil, apparently with the intention of preventing the weapons stored there, which press reports said were advanced missiles, from being handed over to Hezbollah by the Syrian government . There are fears in Israel that these weapons could be used against their own country.

    In the early morning of May 5, Israeli rockets hit Syrian territory, around 15 kilometers from the Lebanese border. According to Syrian sources, the targets were a missile dump, the Jamraya military research center, which is considered a chemical weapons factory, and positions of the Republican Guards near the presidential palace. In total, up to a hundred people are said to have been killed. The Jamraya research center was targeted by Israeli air strikes in January. Western sources reiterated that the air strikes targeted a load of modern Fateh-110 short-range missiles to be brought from Iran via Syria to southern Lebanon for the anti-Israeli Shiite militia Hezbollah. Notwithstanding this information, some of the explosions observed by activists lay within a key position of the government forces, from which these positions of the rebels keep under control on the outskirts of the capital Damascus.

    On May 6, Israeli airspace in the northern part of the country was closed to civil flights. The Israeli military also deployed Iron Dome anti- missile batteries to protect northern Israeli cities from a possible Syrian attack.

    On May 6, UN Commissioner Carla Del Ponte announced that the UN had testimony from doctors and victims that rebel troops had used the nerve agent sarin in Syria. These are incidents in Aleppo and Damascus in March 2013 and another in December 2012 in Homs. The Assad government and the insurgents accuse each other of using the poison gas sarin in three skirmishes.

    On May 7, after government troops had gained ground along the border with the Golan Heights , rebels kidnapped four of the UN monitors deployed there in order to protect them, according to their own statements, from attacks by troops loyal to the government. The men were released on May 12th.

    On May 7, the two veto powers Russia and the USA announced in Moscow that they would convene an international conference on Syria, preferably in May. The conference will be based on the June 2012 peace plan reached in Geneva. At that time, the UN veto powers, as well as Turkey and several Arab states, agreed on essential features of a political transition in Syria. Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized that Syria's head of state Bashar al-Assad had "lost his legitimacy". At the time, the Geneva peace plan deliberately left the point of whether Assad should resign immediately, vague.

    On May 8, after a two-month siege, government troops captured the city of Khirbet Ghazaleh, an important key position on the road connecting Jordan and Damascus in the Darʿā governorate , around 20 kilometers from the Jordanian border. 35 rebels were killed during the fighting and government forces regained control of an important supply route to the embattled Darʿā .

    On May 9, Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan announced that he was certain that Syrian government troops had used unknown chemical weapons on a large scale. As evidence, he named debris from around 200 launch vehicles and victims who were lying in Turkish hospitals with corresponding injuries.

    On May 10, 42 people died in a multiple car bomb explosion in the Turkish border town of Reyhanlı . More than a hundred were injured. A few hours later, Bülent Arınç , deputy to Prime Minister Erdoğan, named the Syrian secret service as the main suspect for the attack. If the suspicion is confirmed, the necessary measures will be taken. The Syrian government declined any responsibility and stressed that such actions would be contrary to its values.

    On May 16, representatives of the rebels announced a counter-offensive aimed at anticipating the relief of Darʿā by government troops. Hundreds of fighters are to attack the remaining government troops in Darʿā and shut down the base of the 52nd Mechanized Brigade near Herak before government troops advancing along the main road from Damascus towards Darʿā can relieve them.

    On May 18, government troops and pro-government militias began their offensive and attacked several key rebel positions. Government troops penetrated into the town of al-Qusair on the Lebanese border, which is considered a key position for the transport of weapons and supplies from Lebanon to the rebel stronghold of Homs . The government-loyal state television announced that government troops had reached the center and occupied the city administration, rebel representatives said on May 20 that their associations still had large parts of the city under control. Advancement of government troops has also been reported from other sectors. Because of the use of artillery and the Syrian air force against the rebels in the villages and the consequent extensive destruction, their representatives asked for a special session of the Arab League. Isolated artillery shells, which were apparently fired by rebel troops from Syria, meanwhile hit the place Hermel in Lebanon, which is considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

    On May 22nd, the fifth meeting of the " Friends of Syria " began in Amman .

    At the end of May 2013, a French reporter reported that he had witnessed a poison gas attack by government troops in Jobar, a district of Damascus, in which rebel troops, civilians and the journalist himself were injured. The type and exact method of distribution of the warfare agent remained unclear. On May 30, 2013 it was reported that Russia had already supplied the government in Syria with a first batch of modern S-300 air defense systems, but the report was soon challenged as propaganda.

    On May 31, the influential TV preacher Yusuf al-Qaradawi pleaded for a break with the Shiites and urged all Sunnis who can fight to join the fight against Assad.

    June

    On June 1, rebels coming from Syria fired rockets and mortars for the first time in the Baalbek region in Lebanon, which is considered the stronghold of Hezbollah. According to Lebanese security groups, 15 FSA fighters who were held responsible for the shelling were ambushed by Hezbollah while still on Lebanese territory and were killed. In Baalbek itself, strangers shot a Shiite shrine with light weapons.

    On June 2, Syrian state television reported that government troops had seized two canisters of sarin gas (a chemical weapon) from a rebel hideout in Hama . In addition, rebels announced that despite ongoing fighting over Kusseir (Qusair) , the government had gathered reinforcements from Hezbollah militias near Aleppo. These deployments got ready to storm the big city, which is mostly held by rebels. The Gulf Cooperation Council announced, meanwhile, consider the interference of Hezbollah in Syria as "Religious intervention" and you review action against the organization within the Member States. The Sunni government of Bahrain declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

    On June 4, a UN commission of inquiry announced that it had a reasonable basis for claiming that chemical weapons had been used to a limited extent in the Syrian Civil War. Once again, the nature, method of distribution and the identity of the perpetrators remained unclear. Against the background of these findings and information about numerous crimes by both factions in the civil war, the head of the investigation, Paulo Pinheiro, said that Syria is "in free fall". French investigators meanwhile announced that they were certain that the Syrian government had used sarin gas. At a press conference, the Russian president made it clear that his country had not yet fulfilled the contract that obliges Russia to deliver the S-300 long-range air defense systems to Syria. One does not want to disturb the balance of the region. Britain, meanwhile, failed at the European Union's attempt to put Hezbollah on the sanctions list.

    On June 5, Syrian state television reported that Kusseir , which had been contested for three weeks, was now in the hands of government troops. The remnants of the rebels fled to the nearby village of Debaa through a gap in the siege ring that was intentionally left open by government troops. In a statement to a news agency, rebels announced that the surviving fighters had been withdrawn from the city on the night of June 5th in view of the material superiority of their opponents and the lack of supplies. Only a rearguard out of a few dozen remained to ensure the withdrawal of civilians and fighters. However, the Qatari TV channel Al Jazeera aired a report in which a rebel spokesman announced that more parts of the city had been lost but that the fighting was still going on in Kusseir. According to information from the opposition, a convoy of fleeing rebel groups and civilians was shot at with automatic weapons after leaving the city. About 100 people are said to have been killed.

    On June 6, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov complained that some of Russia's “partners” were resisting Iran's participation in the July peace conference for Syria in Geneva. According to the Russian deputy foreign minister, the promise of the various Syrian opposition groups to participate in the talks was also still pending on the same day. The White House press secretary had described Iran and Hezbollah as Assad's "partners of tyranny" in the course of the fighting over Kusseir. Russia continued to demand clarification from Turkey regarding Turkish media reports that special forces had seized sarin gas on Turkish soil from fighters assigned to the Al-Nusra Front.

    Also on June 6, 2013, a whistleblower announced that the American secret service NSA was using the " PRISM " operation to monitor the data streams of the Paltalk chat service, among other things , in order to collect "substantially" important intelligence about the Arab Spring and the Syrian civil war .

    On June 6, Austria announced that it would withdraw its blue helmet soldiers from the UNDOF mission from the Golan Heights because of the increased risk . Shortly before, Syrian rebels had taken control of a border crossing in neighboring Quneitra , but had been driven out by government troops. The President and Parliament of the Russian Federation offered to replace the 377 Austrian soldiers with their own troops. A spokesman for the United Nations said that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are not allowed to participate in peace missions.

    On June 7th, government troops advanced against remaining rebel positions north of Kusseir. According to information from the rebels, fighting raged around Husseiniya, 13 kilometers northeast, and rebel fighters continued to advance on a government airfield north of Aleppo. In Friday prayers, numerous prominent Sunni clergy demonized Iran, Hezbollah, Assad and the Shiites. Iran's head of state , on the other hand, called for Muslims to stand up against Israel and the “corrupt West”, who wanted to undermine the unity of Muslims.

    On June 8, according to government reports, Buwayda was the last village in the neighborhood of Kusseir that was still held by rebels. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb in an Alevite neighborhood of Homs, killing several civilians.

    On June 9, the Chief of Staff of the Free Syrian Army, Selim Idriss , announced that it would refuse the opposition to participate in the peace conference in Geneva in July unless it received weapons and ammunition that would help the rebels so that you are in a strong position to negotiate. The US military meanwhile gathered 4,500 soldiers, fighter planes and Patriot missile batteries in Syria's neighboring country Jordan to hold the exercise "Eager Lion 2013" with Jordanians, British and soldiers from Saudi Arabia , which according to official statements has nothing to do with the Syrian civil war should. Government troops and Hezbollah militias loyal to the government said they were trying to recapture the megacity of Aleppo and reported the first land gains in outskirts.

    On June 11, it was announced that General Idriss had urgently asked the US government for weapons and ammunition after the rebel setbacks over the weekend. He also called for the United States Department of State to establish a no-fly zone to secure the main supply line for rebel activities in northern Syria, from the Turkish border to Aleppo, against attacks by the Syrian air force.

    On June 12, France announced as a further restriction on the planned peace conference in Geneva that the opposition would not participate even if government troops and pro-government militias halt their attack on the predominantly rebel-held city of Aleppo. France reaffirmed its intention to adhere to the EU moratorium on arms deliveries to rebels, which was still in force on August 1 . Russia's foreign minister commented on the rebel demands of June 9 for military superiority ahead of a peace conference as unproductive. If such demands were met, a conference would never have any chance of success. Fighters attributed to the rebels set fire to several houses and killed around 60 civilians and government sympathizers in the opposition-controlled village of Hatla in Deir ez-Zor province . 150 survivors fled the village to a neighboring town controlled by government troops. The number was later corrected by opposition activists to 20 deaths, including three Shiite clergymen who were publicly hanged as a deterrent and 20 "hostages".

    On June 13, the US government announced that it was now certain that the Assad government had used chemical weapons in the fight against rebels. According to US intelligence reports, various types of poison gas are said to have killed 150 people on various occasions. The US government announced that it now wants to actively support the rebels militarily. Germany, however, refuses to rearm the rebels.

    Hassan Rouhani was elected President of Iran on June 14th.

    On June 14, pro-government preachers from Saudi Arabia once again called for a holy war by the Sunnis against the Syrian government in Friday prayers and stated that every means was right to achieve this goal. In Egypt, the ruling Muslim Brotherhood announced ( overthrown in early July ) that Sunnis had never started a religious war, but they backed the position of a conference of Sunni clergy in Cairo calling for a holy war. Rebels, meanwhile, feared that the US announcement that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons would lead government forces to abandon their reluctance to use chemical weapons on a large scale. They again called for the establishment of a no-fly zone. A UN Human Rights Council resolution tabled by the Gulf monarchies, Turkey, the USA and Great Britain condemned the use of all foreign fighters in Syria; however, the influx of weapons and ammunition was not condemned. Almost 20 percent of the participating states did not agree to the resolution. The German Chancellor called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council at which a common position on the Syria conflict must finally be found.

    On June 16, a press report came out that Iran plans to send 4,000 soldiers to fight alongside President Assad in the Syrian civil war. The decision is said to have been taken before the Iranian presidential election on the 14th. It has also been announced that Saudi Arabia plans to deliver Mistral- type portable anti-aircraft missiles to the rebels. Meanwhile, pro-government troops attacked a suburb on the outskirts of Aleppo . They are apparently trying to reach the most important connection road between the Turkish border and Aleppo in order to cut off supplies from the rebels in the city.

    On June 18, Iranian authorities denied the report of June 16 that they wanted to send soldiers to Syria. The participants at the G8 summit on Lough Erne in 2013 announced their declaration on the civil war in Syria and called on all parties to the conflict to destroy and expel all organizations and persons belonging to al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations.

    On June 21, the United Nations rated the data on chemical weapons use collected by the USA, France and Great Britain as insufficiently informative to blame the government in Syria for the use of such weapons because of the open chain of evidence.

    On June 22nd, the group of eleven states close to the rebels, known as “Friends of Syria”, agreed in Qatar to provide the fighters in Syria with all the support they needed to cope with the “brutal attacks by the regime and its own Allies' strike back. The influx of advanced weapons systems to the rebels has already been accelerated by Saudi Arabia. Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad announced at the meeting that violence (against the government) is necessary to achieve justice. The influx of weapons is the only way to bring peace to Syria. Iraq's Transport Minister Hadi Al-Amiri doubted that, given the strong influence of Sunni Islamists in the civil war, it would be possible for the West to provide moderate forces with weapons and to exclude the Islamists. They would simply take the weapons by force from the weaker FSA associations and ultimately use them against the Shiites in Iraq. He also announced that should the desecration and desecration of Shiite holy sites by Sunni Islamists in Syria continue, thousands of Iraqi men would stand ready to take up the fight against the rebels alongside Assad's forces. As long as other states, like Egypt or Libya, acted as if they didn't realize that their citizens were fighting in Syria, Iraq would do the same.

    On June 23, French President François Hollande called on the fighters of the FSA to take back Islamist extremists on the part of the rebels in areas they were occupying, in order to ensure the supply of weapons and ammunition to the right hands. In the Idlib governorate , fighters assigned to the rebels attacked a Catholic monastery and killed a Franciscan who had stood in their way.

    On June 25, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia , whose country has been supplying arms to the rebels in Syria since mid-2012, announced that the world's largest oil exporter could not remain silent in view of Iran's engagement in Syria. Furthermore, Russia has no right to deliver weapons to the government and the foreign fighters at its side (here Hezbollah), said the prince. Meanwhile, holding the planned peace conference in the near future was becoming increasingly unlikely. The deteriorating relationship between Russia and the United States and the deeply divided Syrian opposition made it difficult for the initiative to move forward, experts judged. Syrian government troops intensified their operations against the districts of Damascus still held by the rebels. The city of Tell Kalach fell into the hands of the Syrian government troops after local officials and FSA fighters decided to surrender without a fight. Parts of the FSA went over to the government, the greater part of the rebels either withdrew or went home. The city on the border with Lebanon was an important smuggling route for the FSA, for weapons and other goods.

    On June 26, Russia announced that the remaining maintenance personnel had been withdrawn from the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria. In addition to the unsafe situation, the main aim is to avoid incidents with members of the Russian army, which could have far-reaching consequences. According to press reports, there are no longer any members of the Russian army or civilians in Syria.

    On June 28, rebels announced the elimination of the Binayat army post in the city of Deraa, which was apparently destroyed with a heavy explosive charge. The action was carried out by units from the al-Nusra Front .

    On June 29, government troops and pro-government militias launched an offensive against the provincial capital of Homs to wrest control of several parts of the city from the rebels. According to activists, the attack came from all sides and is supported by the Syrian Air Force.

    July

    On July 1, rebels in Homs announced that the positions had largely been held, but that militia loyal to the government would try to isolate the district of Khalidiya from the old town as part of their offensive. It was also announced on the first that an active officer in the Jordanian Air Force had deserted for the first time, traveled to Syria via Turkey and joined the Al-Nusra Front there to fight against President Assad's troops in the Syrian civil war. The human rights movement Human Rights Watch condemned Turkey, Iraq and Jordan for closing their borders to Syrian refugees. According to the organization, thousands of people were stranded at the borders, only Lebanon would still accept refugees. The Gulf Cooperation Council called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to end the siege of Homs by pro-government troops. In the course of the text of the motion reference was made to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the government and alleged ethnically / religiously motivated purges near Homs.

    On July 5th, the aftermath of the military coup in Egypt turned out to be a new disruptive factor in the attempt to create a united leadership of the Syrian opposition. The decisive group in the opposition was the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, which, however, has lost influence due to the loss of power of its Egyptian counterpart. In a suburb of the capital Damascus, the rebel fighter and internet celebrity Fedaa al-Baali (alias: Mohammed Moaz) succumbed to the injuries he had previously suffered from shrapnel. Rebel troops holed up in the Krak des Chevaliers Castle, a World Heritage Site, in the outskirts of Homs, were involved in battles with government troops and pro-government militias. The UN Security Council was unable to agree on a resolution to force access to around 2,500 trapped civilians in a rebel-held part of Homs in order to provide humanitarian aid. Russia rejected the resolution and insisted on including the villages of Nubul and Zahra, north of Aleppo, where civilians loyal to the government had been besieged by rebel fighters for months, in the resolution text, which was in turn rejected by other Security Council members. Ahmad al-Jarba has meanwhile been elected president of the opposition government.

    On July 6, 2013, armed clashes between various rebel groups broke out in Al Dana near the Turkish-Syrian border. Dozens of fighters were killed in clashes between rebel groups and members of the Islamic State group in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an al-Qaida-affiliated organization that tries to enforce religious justice in the region. The cause and course of the dispute remained unclear.

    On July 8, 2013, the new leader of the political opposition, Ahmed Jarba, offered the government a ceasefire for the duration of the fasting month of Ramadan , which begins on July 9. At the same time, an interview was published in which he promised his supporters in Syria that advanced weapons would be available shortly and refused to participate in the peace conference in Geneva as long as the opposition was in a poor military situation.

    On July 9, Russia's UN Ambassador Churkin said that his country was convinced that rebels were using chemical weapons in Syria near Khan al-Assal and presented a corresponding report to the UN Secretary General. Russian experts examined soil samples and continued to come to the conclusion that the warfare agent detected was not produced in an industrial plant. Also on the 9th, it became known that rebel troops in Aleppo triggered a hunger riot by blocking aid deliveries.

    On July 11, fighters from ISIS, which is close to al-Qaeda, killed FSA commander Kamal Hamami. The following day there was open fighting between the two rebel groups, with dead and wounded.

    On July 12, opposition sources reported an air strike by the Syrian Air Force on the rebel garrison holed up within the walls of the Krak des Chevaliers crusader fortress . At least one missile is said to have damaged the structure.

    On July 13, fighting was reported again over the past few days between various rebel groups in Aleppo.

    On July 14th, during heavy fighting between Islamist rebels and Kurds on the Syrian side of the Turkish-Syrian border, bullets fired on Turkish soil and killed two civilians in Ceylanpınar . Turkish troops returned fire.

    On July 18, Turkish authorities reported that Kurdish PYD fighters had conquered the border town of Raʾs al-ʿAin and had driven Islamist rebels from the Al-Nusra Front from there. It was also announced that Britain is unlikely to arm the rebels. Observers referred to the negative attitude of a majority of the population as a reason for the step.

    On July 20, government troops again fired multiple rocket launchers on the districts of Homs that had remained in rebel hands and used the air force for bomb attacks. Rebel positions in Sarakeb were also targeted by air strikes. The number of dead in the clashes between the Kurds and the Al-Nusra Front in the last few days has meanwhile been given by observers as 19 Kurdish and 35 Islamist fighters. Government-loyal hackers broke into the cell phone service Tango and gained access to 1.5 terabytes of user data in order to obtain information about opposition activists and rebels who use the service , according to the Syrian state television . TangoME Inc. confirmed an attack and apologized for the loss of data.

    On July 21, rebel reinforcements attempting to infiltrate Damascus were ambushed near Adra in the northeast of the city. According to the opposition, government troops killed 49 rebel fighters, and 24 more are said to have been killed at the same time in skirmishes within the capital. Also on Sunday, several mortar shells killed 20 people in a market in Ariha in southern Syria. The bullets, which hit the market shortly before the break of the fast in the evening, are said to have been fired by troops loyal to the government, according to information from the opposition. In the meantime, Kurdish fighters exchanged an appointed ISIS commander for 300 Kurdish civilians in the north who the Islamists had previously taken hostage.

    On July 22nd, rebels announced the occupation of the village of Khan al-Assal near Aleppo. Government troops have given up the place and withdrawn. The foreign ministers of the European Union decided to put people belonging to the military wing of Hezbollah on the terror list. Russia announced through its foreign minister that President Assad was ready to enter into unconditional peace negotiations at any time and called on the West to finally unite the various opposition groups into a negotiable alliance.

    On July 24th, representatives of several Islamist rebel groups swore to “cleanse” the border town of Raʾs al-ʿAin , which they had lost on July 18, of Kurdish fighters. The Kurdish politician Salih Muslim , on the other hand, announced that Islamists would not be tolerated in the Kurdish regions of Syria.

    On July 25, representatives of the political opposition met with US Secretary of State Kerry. They called for arms deliveries from the United States as well as greater political commitment from the United States to end the conflict.

    On July 26, opposition representatives met with members of the UN Security Council. The opposition members around Ahmed Jarba repeated their demand that President Assad should announce his resignation before attending a peace conference in Geneva. In addition to criticizing Russia for its support for the government and calling for Assad to stop using heavy weapons, Najib Ghadbian demanded that more aid from the UN should reach the “liberated areas”.

    On July 28, government troops and pro-government militias captured the Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque in Homs and a district that had previously been held by rebels. Rebels described the victory as questionable because the government had previously largely destroyed the district with heavy weapons and air strikes.

    On July 29, ISIS Islamist fighters abducted a Catholic priest in ar-Raqqa . Furthermore, Islamist fighters are said to have caused a massacre in Khan al-Assal near Aleppo, which they captured on the 22nd, in which they killed around 150 people.

    August

    On August 2, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced a full investigation into the Khan al-Assal massacre and warned the opposition that their militants were also not safe from prosecution.

    On August 3, rebels said they had captured numerous weapons in a government depot north of Yabrud . In the same region, near the Lebanese-Syrian border, there were air strikes by government forces. There were initially contradicting statements about which side of the border the bullets hit. According to Lebanese authorities, six Syrians were killed and others wounded. Other sources put nine dead. The border region around the Lebanese Khirbet Daoud is home to many Syrian refugees, but is also a place of refuge for rebel fighters.

    On August 4, predominantly Islamist opposition fighters, led by groups belonging to Al-Qaeda, attacked several Alawi- dominated villages in the Salma area near the Turkish-Syrian border. 19 members of the militia and army are said to have been killed, the rebels said they lost 12 fighters. The fighters said they gained control of four of the villages and said they had captured 400 villagers and militiamen.

    On August 6, opposition circles reported the capture of a Syrian army helicopter base near the Turkish border in Menagh that had been locked in and contested since August 2012. Two rebel suicide bombers of foreign origin blew themselves up in an armored vehicle loaded with six tons of explosives near the last building complex of the base, which was still being defended by government troops, thus enabling other rebels to occupy the remains of the base.

    On August 7, reinforcements of the rebels who wanted to infiltrate Damascus from the north were ambushed by government troops. About 60 opposition fighters were killed, according to government reports. Opposition sympathizers gave 62 dead and eight missing. According to government estimates, the fighters wanted to carry out attacks on government troops and pro-government militias, while the ranks of the rebels stated that the men wanted to transport urgently needed food for civilians in need to the parts of the city that remained in rebel hands. State television also announced that a car bomb in a suburb east of Damascus had killed 18 civilians.

    On August 10, the Syrian air force attacked Salma, which is the starting point for the attacks by Islamist fighters on Alawi-dominated villages on August 4. Opposition sources reported that 10 civilians were among the victims of the air strike, plus 4 foreign and 6 Syrian fighters. Masud Barzani , a leader of the Iraqi Kurds, announced that the Iraqi Kurds will defend the inhabitants of "Western Kurdistan" against fighters of al-Qaeda.

    On August 11, it was reported that the head of the Free Syrian Army, General Selim Idriss , had visited the areas near the Syrian-Turkish border that had previously been conquered by Islamist fighters from ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front. Meanwhile, the UN announced that around 3,000 families from the region had fled the Islamists.

    On August 14, the government in Kuwait banned a television program following an episode in which religious leader Sheikh Shafi al-Ajmi had called on devout Sunnis to fight the Syrian government. The preacher gained a certain international recognition when he tried to justify the massacre of 60 Shiite residents in the village of Hatla in June. Kuwait has a significant Shiite minority.

    On August 18, after a long wait, a United Nations investigative group led by Åke Sellström arrived in Damascus to investigate allegations of the use of chemical weapons in two unpublished locations in Syria and in Khan al-Assal near Aleppo, which was captured by the rebels.

    On August 19, opposition officials and the Syrian government announced that government troops and pro-government militias had halted the rebel offensive against villages along the Mediterranean coast and reclaimed land. According to information from the opposition, 200 people, most of them civilians, were killed by rebel fighters in the villages at the beginning of the offensive. Numerous rebel fighters are said to have fallen victim to the government's counteroffensive.

    On August 21, opposition sources reported that rebel positions in the suburbs of Damascus had been fired at with rockets whose warheads allegedly contained poison gas . According to contradicting statements, dozens or several hundred people are said to have been killed in the poison gas attacks in Ghouta . The Arab League requested an immediate investigation into the incident by the UN Special Investigation Team in the country. Syrian state television rejected the allegations of the opposition reporters and described the reports as an attempt to distract the UN commission of inquiry from their actual investigations. In a published assessment, the Israeli secret service suspected the use of chemical weapons; he did not name any alleged responsible person.

    On August 22, several rockets fired in Syria hit the Wadi Khaled region on the Bekaa Plain . The exact origin of the missiles was unknown.

    On August 23, UK Foreign Secretary Hague stated that his administration believed that the toxic gas incursions were carried out by forces loyal to President Assad. The Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation and the United States unanimously called on government and opposition forces on the ground to allow unhindered and safe access for the UN investigative group to the site of the attack. The US Navy ordered the guided missile destroyer USS Mahan , actually on the march back to the USA, back to the Mediterranean, experts interpreted this as an indication of preparations for a possible attack against targets in Syria.

    On August 24, the new Iranian President Hassan Rohani said that it was convinced that chemical weapons were used in Syria and that he regretted the deaths of many people from such weapons, but did not name those responsible. A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that there was evidence that terrorist groups were guilty of the crime.

    On August 25, the Iranian media announced that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallim had given assurances that his government would grant the UN investigative group access to the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus, where the chemical warfare agents were believed to have been used. In response, a US government official announced that the approval had come too late and did not appear credible. Persistent fighting and conventional weapon fire would likely have destroyed much of the evidence.

    On August 25, a three-day meeting of senior military officials from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Jordan, Canada, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the USA began in the Jordanian capital, Amman, under the leadership of the Jordanian Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Mishaal Zaben and the Commander of the United States Central Command , Lloyd J. Austin III. to discuss the situation in Syria.

    On August 26, it was announced that British Prime Minister David Cameron is seeking international support for a rapid military strike against the Syrian government within the next few days. An attack with cruise missiles as a punitive measure should be the preferred option, according to press reports. While trying to get from the "Assad area" into the "rebel area" in Damascus, which was affected by the alleged chemical weapons attack, a UN convoy was shot at by strangers that morning. On a second attempt, the UN inspectors managed to speak to doctors and examine some victims. At a meeting of the Friends of Syria , including Germany, and at which the opposition forces actually wanted to work out a common position for a peace conference in Geneva, a spokesman for the opposition forces announced that the opposition would not talk about peace until Assad did Poison gas attack had been punished. In a televised address , US Secretary of State John Kerry did not present any new evidence that a group was responsible for the attacks, but concluded from the Syrian government's long hesitation in making its decision - the UN inspectors were only allowed access after five days - and from the continued hesitation Fighting in the affected urban areas in a "cynical attempt at cover-up" suggesting their responsibility for the August 21 attacks. Observers rated the appearance as part of an escalating campaign, which will presumably be increased shortly by a statement by the US President. Hackers put the New York Times website out of action for several hours. The paper named the attackers, who are also held responsible for a simultaneous attack on Twitter , as part of the "Syrian Electronic Army", a group that is part of the Syrian government, or as someone who has tried very hard to appear as this group . However, the attack on the NYT's domain name registrar would far exceed the capabilities that the group has shown to date.

    On August 27, US officials announced the shortly release of evidence allegedly collected by their intelligence agencies on the responsibility of President Assad's administration for the August 21 poison gas attack. Russian officials made it clear that they still had no data on the nature of the attack or who caused it. The Russian Civil Protection Ministry evacuated 89 citizens from Latakia on an unscheduled flight and announced another deployment for August 28 to flee citizens of Syria.

    On August 28, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon called on the members of the Security Council to finally come to a common position on Syria. Great Britain's Prime Minister announced that he would like to introduce a resolution to the Council today condemning Assad's use of chemical weapons and thus paving the way for international military action. Parliamentary resistance from the opposition and parts of his ruling faction prevented the Prime Minister from being cleared for a British military strike. The politicians asked for more evidence before consenting to military action. According to government officials in Washington, the evidence announced the day before, which the secret services wanted to present, did not contain irrefutable evidence (eng. "Smoking gun") for the guilt of President Assad for the chemical weapons attack on August 21. One is nevertheless convinced of his responsibility for the attacks.

    On August 29, 2013, the British Parliament rejected a military operation with a narrow majority (285: 272 votes).

    On August 30, the presidents of the United States and France announced that they were sticking to their option of a possible military strike against Syria, despite decisions to the contrary from Germany and the United Kingdom. At the same time, the UN Secretary-General announced that he wanted to hold talks with the veto powers in the Security Council. In Damascus, the UN inspectors ended their poison gas investigations. The Damascus government said it would not accept any preliminary findings: the samples would have to be evaluated first. According to observers, heavy equipment, such as tactical long-range missiles and other equipment, has meanwhile been withdrawn from the bases around Damascus by government forces. Administration buildings and military quarters were cleared, and employees and documents were housed in civilian residential areas in order to avoid an American attack.

    On August 31, 2013, the American President Barack Obama announced that although he wanted to carry out a military strike and was authorized to do so, he still wanted to obtain the approval of Congress. On the same day, French President François Hollande declared that he was of the same opinion as the Americans, but that he would definitely wait for the opinion of the American and French parliaments before a military attack. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, warned against the United States or any other state going it alone. If the allegations are confirmed, it is up to the UN to find a solution. Syrian forces began again on Saturday to bombard suburbs of Damascus held by rebels with artillery. According to one of its spokespersons, the opposition Syrian National Coalition fears that the lack of a swift military strike by the US could encourage the government to use more chemical weapons.

    September

    On September 1, the United States moved the carrier group of the USS Nimitz from the Arabian Sea towards the Red Sea in order to be ready to support a military strike against Syria if necessary. Furthermore, the dock landing ship USS San Antonio with 300 marines on board has joined the destroyers, who are waiting for a possible operational order off Syria.

    On September 2, the Priazowje , a Project 864 reconnaissance ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, set sail to gather information about the conflict off the Syrian coast.

    On September 3, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that at 6:16 a.m. GMT one of its early warning systems had detected the launch of two ballistic missiles moving east from the central Mediterranean. Before reaching the coast, the objects disappeared and estimates were based on a crash over the open sea. The Russian President had been informed by the Minister of Defense about the detected launch of the missile. Hours later, the Israeli Defense Ministry stated that they had launched two target display missiles together with the United States to test their own defense.

    On September 4, according to the Syrian government, its armed forces and pro-government militias brought the strategically important city of Ariha under their control. This gives the government a direct link between Latakia and its armed forces in Idlib. Islamist fighters from the Al-Nusra Front, according to human rights activists, captured an army checkpoint that secured access to the Christian mountain village of Maalula by detonating an explosive charge there and firing grenade launchers at the village. A US Senate committee authorized the President, after a vote of 10 to 7, to carry out a limited military strike against Syria within 60 days. There was an option for an extension of 30 days in a consultation with Congress and the condition that no US troops were deployed on the ground.

    On September 5, it became known that fighters from the Al-Nusra Front, who had penetrated into the center of the mountain village of Maalula the day before, had withdrawn after Syrian government troops had approached. The fighting between the Islamist fighters and government-loyal associations in the mountains near Damascus would have dragged on all day. According to Foreign Minister Kerry, several Arab states have offered the USA to finance an American-led invasion of Syria with the aim of removing President Assad.

    On September 9, the US State Department relativized a statement by Secretary of State Kerry as a " rhetorical argument". He had previously announced that Assad could avoid a military strike against Syria if he handed over the chemical weapons of his armed forces to the international community. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov promised shortly after Kerry's testimony that he would get Syria to place chemical weapons under international control.

    On September 10, Syria agreed in principle to the plan to abolish its chemical weapons arsenal. France submitted a draft resolution with which the UN Security Council could legitimize the initiative to secure arms. The government of President Assad would have 15 days to submit a complete overview of his arsenal and to grant inspectors immediate access. In the event of non-compliance, the proposal invokes Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter , which Russia rejected in this form. Furthermore, the draft text made Assad solely responsible for the August 21 attack, which Russia also rejected. Russian representatives in the Security Council now wanted to work out their own proposal for a resolution together with the other members.

    On September 11, the UN commission of inquiry under Paulo Pinheiro reported that the warring parties had again committed numerous crimes in the civil war between mid-May and mid-July. Both sides used indiscriminate weapons to shoot residential areas and carried out executions. Government troops and pro-government militias have also shot at hospitals and rebel organizations have been accused of various kidnappings. Many people have disappeared. Apparently the perpetrators did not fear prosecution. Despite the not exactly verifiable allegations of the use of chemical weapons, which are still being investigated, the bulk of the losses were caused by the use of conventional weapons.

    On September 12, Salim Idriss, commander in chief of the FSA, announced that President Assad's government would smuggle his chemical weapons out of the country into Iraq and Lebanon. The Russian Navy announced that it is adding more ships to its fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean. From September 15 or 16, the flotilla will include the guided missile cruiser Moskwa, the destroyers Smetliwy and Admiral Panteleev , the frigate Neustraschimy and six large landing ships.

    On September 15, the reaction of the opposition and supporters of the government in Syria to the country's negotiated accession to the chemical weapons convention was evaluated by journalists. The government and its supporters saw the agreement and the associated international recognition as a great victory, while opposition forces had hoped, on the basis of an American military strike, to usurp the initiative in the conflict and to drive the government out.

    On September 16, Turkish warplanes shot down a Syrian Mi-17 helicopter. The helicopter had penetrated up to two kilometers into Turkish territory, and after multiple warnings, Turkish F-16 fighters opened fire, whereupon the helicopter crashed over Syrian territory. The two pilots are said to have jumped over Syrian territory, but according to Turkish information they were killed by rebels. The Syrian military admitted that the helicopter had briefly penetrated Turkish airspace, but accused Turkey of wanting to escalate by shooting down the helicopter, which followed the instructions and was already back in Syrian airspace.

    On September 18, ISIS Islamist fighters captured the border town of Aʿzāz from members of a rebel brigade associated with the FSA. The fighting for the city started when ISIS fighters tried to kidnap a German doctor from A'zāz against the resistance of other rebels. According to information from the opposition, the FSA counterattacked fighters, while a third rebel group dispatched mediators to negotiate a ceasefire between the adversaries.

    On September 22, Russia's foreign minister called on the rebels to destroy their stocks of chemical weapons. He referred to reports from Israeli sources that sectors with chemical weapons storage facilities had fallen into the hands of the rebels on two occasions during the turmoil of the war. He also stated that the rebels would have their own laboratories for the production of chemical warfare agents.

    On September 25, 11 rebel groups announced their break with the previous representatives of the opposition at the international level. Three of the groups were previously organized in the Syrian National Council . It was declared that the groups did not want to be represented by Syrians in exile who had not personally experienced the consequences of the war and who had done nothing in the three years of the conflict to alleviate the suffering of the people in Syria. Furthermore, the future Syria should become a state according to Islamic principles, with Sharia as the legal basis.

    On September 27, 34 people were killed in a car bomb explosion in Rankus near Damascus.

    On September 28, activists reported an attack on a military base near Damascus. 18 government fighters are said to have been killed.

    On September 29, activists reported an air strike by government fighter jets in Raqqa that allegedly hit a school. 18 people, most of them students, were killed.

    On September 30, a rebel mortar shell hit the Chinese consulate in Damascus. The explosion injured an employee. China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the incident.

    October

    On October 9, militias loyal to the government, made up of Hezbollah fighters and Iraqi Shiite volunteer organizations, overran rebel positions and occupied Sheik Omar , a suburb south of Damascus. The attack was supported by artillery, air and armored units of the Syrian army. Opposition sources reported at least 20 rebels killed.

    On October 12, observers reported that over the past three days, 44 fighters from various Islamist rebel groups had been killed in internal battles for control of the rebel districts in the city of Aleppo.

    On October 13, according to the aid organization Red Crescent, around 1,500 women and children left the suburb of Moadhamiyeh near Damascus, which was besieged by government-loyal troops, and moved to accommodation in an area controlled by government troops.

    On October 17 , General Jameh Jameh, the government security chief in the province of Deir ez-Zor , was killed by a sniper near his home.

    On October 18 and 19, two suicide bombers were used by Islamist rebels: one detonated his explosive device in a Kurdish militia camp in Hassaka, killing a Kurdish militiaman, and another launched a rebel attack with a car bomb set off at a checkpoint of the Syrian army 16 soldiers loyal to the government and 15 militants were killed.

    On October 20, another suicide bomber who is part of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front blew himself up at a checkpoint of the Syrian army. The explosion of the truck loaded with explosives and gas bottles killed around 30 people, most of them civilians. In this case, too, the attack was used as a prelude to an attack on the checkpoint.

    On October 21, a prominent FSA leader, former lieutenant colonel in the Syrian army, Yasser al-Aboud, was killed during an attack by his unit on government positions near Darʿā .

    On October 26, Kurdish YPG fighters captured the Yarubiya post on the border with Iraq after three days of fighting from the ISIS / ISIL rebel group. The Islamists had occupied the post since March and refused to allow the Kurds to use the border crossing.

    According to American and Syrian sources, Israeli fighter planes attacked a Syrian army facility south of Latakia on the night of October 30th to 31st . Israeli authorities declined to comment on the action. Observers assumed an attack on a load of anti-aircraft missiles that Israeli agencies consider a threat if they were leaked to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

    November

    On November 1, militia loyal to the government and government troops captured the city of Sefireh , southeast of Aleppo. Islamist associations of the Tawheed Brigade had not sent any reinforcements despite the FSA's request, so that the FSA associations had to withdraw from Safira.

    On November 3, Colonel Abdul Jabbar Akaidi, commander of the FSA, resigned from his post. He wanted to protest against the quarrels between the various rebel groups, which in his opinion were responsible for the fall of the city of Sefireh.

    On November 5, Kurdish spokesmen announced the conquest of areas around Ras al-Ayn. Islamist fighters have been driven from all the villages in the area. Their spokesman spoke of a tactical retreat. Their units had fallen back on the border town of Tall Abyad , from whose area fights with Kurdish units were also reported.

    On November 7th, government soldiers and pro-government militias captured the Sbeineh suburb of Damascus. FSA fighters said they had withdrawn. Furthermore, rebels and troops loyal to the government fought heavily, 100 km north of Damascus, in Mahin, after rebel groups claimed to have plundered an arsenal.

    Heavy fighting broke out on November 8 over a former army base near Aleppo. The base had been largely in rebel hands since February, and an attack by associations loyal to the government initially forced the rebels to retreat. 23 rebel fighters and some militiamen loyal to the government were killed. On November 9, rebel fighters managed to recapture the base near Aleppo that they had lost the day before. At least 41 rebel fighters and 21 of the fighters loyal to President Assad were killed in the fighting. On November 10, the military base north of the military airfield near Aleppo , which had been contested for three days, changed hands again when associations loyal to the government drove the rebels from there. Observers estimated that around 63 rebel fighters, including at least 20 fighters from Islamist groups, and around 32 government soldiers and militiamen have been killed in the fighting over the base.

    On November 12th, the Kurdish Partiya Yekitîya Demokratie decided, together with other groups in northern Syria, to set up an interim administration in order to counter the maladministration and supply of the population caused by the war.

    On November 18, the death of the commander of the Islamist Tawheed Brigade was announced. Rebel leader Abdelqader Salehsei was seriously wounded in a targeted air strike on a leadership meeting in Aleppo on November 14th and was then taken to a Turkish hospital for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries.

    On November 21, it became known that associations of the al-Qaeda-affiliated ISIS / ISIL faction had attacked fighters from the FSA's Sukur al-Islam Brigade in Atma, on the Syrian-Turkish border. The place, which is considered an important transit point for weapons and supplies for the rebels from Turkey, was subsequently occupied by ISIS / ISIL fighters. Activists said Turkish authorities had not closed the border despite the fighting and that traffic continued to flow normally.

    On November 22nd, six Islamist rebel groups announced they were joining forces. As an Islamic front , the Suqour al-Sham, the Tauhīd, the Ahrar al-Sham, Liwa al-Haq brigades and the Liwa-al Islam want to fight together. Ahmed Abu Eissa, previously head of the Suqour al-Sham, was appointed commander.

    On November 24, it became known that various rebel groups had attacked the siege ring that government forces had laid around suburbs of Damascus. Around 100 rebel fighters and 60 government soldiers or militiamen loyal to the government have so far been killed, according to observer reports.

    December

    On December 2nd, rebels abducted 12 nuns from a monastery in Maalula . The women are said to have been brought to Yabrud . Patriarch John X asked for her release on December 5th and announced that he would personally travel to Syria to investigate the matter.

    On December 5, rebels shot dead the Iraqi journalist al-Jumaili in Idlib .

    On December 7, Islamist rebels occupied depots and accommodations previously held by the West- backed Free Syrian Army (FSA). According to observer reports, the fighters of the Islamic Front entered the FSA facility near Bab al-Hawa, near the Turkish border, under the pretext of wanting to help secure it, but then drove the FSA fighters away.

    On December 10, the well-known human rights activist Razan Zeitouneh was kidnapped from her office by strangers in Ghouta, which is controlled by Islamist rebels, together with her husband and two other colleagues. Zeitouneh has been an attorney defending political prisoners in Syria since 1998. She is the spokeswoman for the most important network of the Syrian civil resistance movement, the Local Coordination Committee (LCC), and has been publicizing human rights violations by both government bodies and rebels since the beginning of the uprising.

    On December 11th, human rights activists and Syrian state television reported unanimously that Islamist rebels had massacred Alawite and Druze civilians in the city of Adra, south of Damascus. The stated number of victims ranged from 15 to over 40. Fighters from the Islamic Front and the Al-Nusra Front were accused of the crime.

    On December 12, the Saudi Grand Mufti ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl al-Sheikh judged suicide bombings as a grave sin and called on believers not to join the Sunni fighters in Syria.

    On December 13, ISIL Islamist fighters rounded up around 120 Kurdish civilians in Ihras near Aleppo and deported them to an undisclosed location.

    On December 15, activists claimed that more than 70 people were killed in air strikes by Syrian government forces on rebel-held areas of Aleppo. 28 of the victims are said to have been children.

    On December 16, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) started an airlift from Erbil in northern Iraq to Qamishli in northeast Syria to supply the predominantly Kurdish population there with relief supplies.

    On December 17, Syrian authorities apparently told his family that Abbas Khan, a 32-year-old surgeon from London who, according to his brother, had come to Syria as a volunteer and was arrested in November 2012, committed suicide in prison. According to the authorities, Khan should be released from custody on Friday. British officials and family members doubted the doctor committed suicide and blamed the government for his death. According to the aid organization Medicins Sans Frontiers MSF, more than 100 people had been killed in the past 3 days in continued air strikes by the Syrian Air Force with barrel bombs on rebel-controlled districts of Aleppo.

    On December 18, the group of Friends of Syria apparently informed the members of the Syrian national coalition that the planned peace negotiations would no longer demand the resignation of President Assad. After the action of December 7th, there are evidently fears in the West that Islamist forces will exploit the emerging power vacuum to usurp power in the country. The U.S. Treasury Department released the names of two people classified as Specially Designated Global Terrorists because they were identified as key financiers of al-Qaeda and similar Islamist groups. One of the men, a university professor, has appeared in the past as a representative and founding member of the Geneva-based human rights organization Alkarama , where he campaigned for the rights of Muslims in the West. The other is seen as an important figure in the political transformation in Yemen. Both are said to have smuggled millions of US dollars, most of which come from Qatar as private donations, to terrorist groups.

    On December 19, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Syria, which was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, made serious allegations against the Syrian state security agencies in its report “Without a trace: Forced disappearance in Syria”. For years, suspected opposition activists have been systematically taken to secret prisons, where they are subjected to torture and other cruel practices. On the same day, the human rights organization Amnesty International made a report on the Islamist rebel militia ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) responsible for serious atrocities in areas under its control in northern Syria.

    On December 20, photographer Molhem Barakat, 17, who works for the Reuters news agency, was killed during fighting between government forces and rebels over the Kindi Hospital in Aleppo.

    On December 21, 18 Iraqi soldiers were killed while attacking an ISIS training facility in northern Iraq, apparently created for the Syrian civil war. The Islamists attacked the Iraqi government forces with at least two suicide bombers and numerous improvised explosive devices . Nothing was known about the fate of the 60 or so ISIS fighters in the complex.

    On December 22nd, according to activists, at least 25 people were killed again in the 8 consecutive days of air strikes by the Syrian government army on rebel-held districts of Aleppo. The number of victims of the bombing rose to more than 200. According to various sources, the Bab al-Hawa border crossing to Turkey was also attacked from the air. According to Syrian state media, a suicide bomber killed 8 people and injured a further 34, most of them children, in Umm al-Amed, a town in the province of Homs that is predominantly inhabited by Shiites.

    On December 23, 15 people were killed in an attack by the Syrian air force on the rebel-held city of Azaz near the Turkish border in northern Syria, according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC). In a statement, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia had transported 25 Ural- type armored trucks and another 75 KAMAZ trucks along with other equipment to the port city of Latakia. According to Shoigu, the vehicles should be used to transport stocks of Syrian chemical weapons to the port so that they can be taken out of the country for disposal.

    According to activists, numerous people were again killed in another air raid by the Syrian army on Aleppo on December 24th. The death toll from the ongoing attacks rises to more than 300. Ole Solvang, representative of the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), accused the Syrian government troops of "killing men, women and children without discrimination". The Syrian Air Force is either "criminally incompetent, does not care whether it kills countless civilians - or deliberately target civilian areas."

    On December 25 , a 48-hour ceasefire was agreed for Mouadamiya , a suburb of Damascus. If the ceasefire holds until Friday, government troops have promised to deliver food to the place that has been locked in since last year. The siege had caused severe food shortages among the remaining 8,000 civilians. Furthermore, according to information from the opposition, negotiations were held about the surrender of the heavy weapons of the trapped rebels against payment. In addition, the official state flag of Syria should be hoisted over the place and only registered residents are allowed to stay in the area. In return, the government army would not enter the area, but would continue to guard it from outside.

    On December 26, the ceasefire that had been concluded for Mouadamiya the day before was broken again after less than 24 hours. Insurgents blamed the AFP news agency for the flare-up of the fighting.

    On December 27, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 60 rebels of various nationalities were killed in a raid by Syrian government troops on a unit of the Islamist Liwa al-Islam in the Kalamoun Mountains north of Damascus. Former finance minister Mohamad Chatah, an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and five other people were killed in a bomb attack in Beirut. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri accused the Hezbollah militia, which is fighting alongside government troops in Syria, of being involved in the attack.

    According to activists, on 28 December another attack by the Syrian air force on the rebel-controlled part of Aleppo killed 21 people and injured numerous others. The number of victims of the bombing, which has been going on for two weeks, rose to more than 400.

    On December 30, the spokesman for the United Nations Aid Organization for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Chris Gunness, told the AFP news agency that last weekend 5 people had died of malnutrition in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus. Overall, the number of victims due to a lack of supplies due to the siege of the camp by government troops has increased to 15 since September.

    On December 31, a bus was hit by an artillery shell in the rebel-controlled Tariq al-Bab district of Aleppo. According to activists, the grenade was fired by government forces. 10 people were killed. The aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced that at least 540 people have been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since mid-December since the government army's attacks on schools, markets, bus stations and other public facilities in the rebel-held part of Aleppo began in mid-December .

    See also

    Web links

    Commons : Syria Civil War  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
     Wikinews: Portal: Syria  - in the news

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Syria: Rebels and Islamists conquer military airfield.
    2. ^ Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: "Syria says Israeli airstrike destroyed military facility" Los Angeles Times, January 30, 2013
    3. ↑ $ 1.5 billion for the Syrian population , Zeit Online, January 31, 2013.
    4. ↑ Iran Report 03/2013 , Heinrich Böll Foundation , boell.de; accessed on June 23, 2016 (PDF; 269 kB).
    5. ^ Fear of the radical Hezbollah gaining strength , Die Welt, February 2, 2013.
    6. ↑ Hezbollah takes action - Syria shoots down drone , n-tv.de, February 21, 2013.
    7. ↑ UN press release: "Ban, UN-Arab League envoy meet to discuss efforts to end Syrian crisis" from March 2, 2013, viewed on March 4, 2013.
    8. ↑ Syria: rebels cheer for conquest of the first large city in the east . In: Spiegel Online , March 5, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013. 
    9. ^ Spiegel online: "EU summit: Hollande demands weapons aid for Syrian rebels", from March 15, 2013, viewed on March 24, 2013
    10. ↑ RIA Novosti: "Damascus Mosque Blast Kills 42, Including Senior Cleric - Report" of March 22, 2013, viewed on March 29, 2013
    11. ^ RIA Novosti: Israeli Army Opens Fire at Syrian Military Post, March 24, 2013, viewed March 24, 2013
    12. ↑ a b Martin Chulov: "Mortar kills 20 at Damascus university as Turkey denies expelling refugees" in The Guardian of March 28, 2013, viewed on March 29, 2013
    13. ↑ Ria Novosti: “UN Withdraws Foreign Staff from Syria over Insecurity” from March 25, 2013, viewed on March 29, 2013
    14. ↑ tagesschau.de : " Many dead in the attack in Damascus" from April 8, 2013, viewed on April 24, 2013
    15. ^ RIA Novosti: "Assad Warns of Syrian Conflict Spreading 'Beyond Borders'" from April 18, 2013, viewed on April 24, 2013
    16. ↑ Khaled Yacoub Oweis: "Up to 500 feared dead in Damascus suburb: activists", Reuters of April 22, 2013, viewed on April 24, 2013
    17. ↑ RIA Novosti: “Fate of Orthodox Bishops Seized in Syria Still Unclear” from April 24, 2013, viewed on April 24, 2013
    18. ↑ Reuters: "Anger in Lebanese streets as Syria border fighting rages" of April 23, 2013, viewed on April 25, 2013
    19. ↑ Washington Post: "11th-century minaret of landmark mosque in Syrian city of Aleppo destroyed amid heavy fighting" of April 24, 2013 ( Memento of April 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
    20. ^ Reiters: "Syria rebels launch attack in central Hama after months of calm" from April 25, 2013, viewed on April 25, 2013
    21. ↑ RIA Novosti: "US Says Chemical Weapons Used in Syria" from April 25, 2013, viewed on April 26, 2013
    22. ^ Anne Barnard and Alan Cowell, "Syrian Prime Minister Escapes Assassination Bid," New York Times April 29, 2013, viewed April 29, 2013
    23. ↑ Ria Novosti: "Syrian Rebels Use Chemical Weapons - State TV", April 30, 2013, viewed April 30, 2013
    24. ↑ Reuters: "Turkish border police wounded in clashes on Turkey-Syrian border" from May 2, 2013, viewed on May 2, 2013
    25. ↑ Erika Solomon: "Dozens dead as Assad's forces storm coastal village", Reuters from May 2, 2013, viewed on May 3, 2013
    26. ↑ a b AP: "US officials say Israel launches airstrike into Syria, apparently against weapons site" by Washington POst on May 3, 2013, viewed on May 4, 2013
    27. ^ Ria Novosti: "Israeli Officials Confirm Air Strike on Syria - News Agency" from May 4, 2013, viewed on May 4, 2013
    28. ^ Ria Novosti: "Syria Blames Israel For Missile Strike on Military Facility" of May 5, 2013
    29. ↑ Israeli air strikes in Syria Dynamics of War , Süddeutsche May 6, 2013
    30. ↑ Reuters: "Israel Syria strike targeted Iran missiles to Hezbollah: source" May 5, 2013, viewed May 5, 2013
    31. ↑ Liz Sly and Suzan Haidamous: "Syrian report: Israel bombs outskirts of Damascus for second time in recent days" Washington Post, May 4, 2013, viewed May 4, 2013
    32. ^ RIA Novosti: "Israel Closes Airspace to Civilian Air Traffic in North" from May 6, 2013, viewed on May 6, 2013
    33. ↑ Ria Novosti: "UN Has Testimony of Syrian Rebels Using Sarin Gas - Official" from May 6, 2013, viewed on May 6, 2013
    34. ↑ Chemical weapons in Syria: Washington distances itself from Del Ponte , Spiegel online May 6, 2013
    35. ↑ Liz Sly William Booth, "Four UN observers detained in Golan Heights," Washington Post, May 7, 2013, viewed May 8, 2013
    36. ^ Syrian rebels free UN peacekeepers held in Golan . In: Reuters , May 12, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013. 
    37. ↑ Planned Syria conference Der Tagesspiegel May 8, 2013
    38. ↑ Suleiman Al-Khalidi: "Assad's forces capture strategic town in southern Syria" Reuters from. May 8, 2013, sighted May 8, 2013
    39. ↑ Tracy Connor: "Exclusive: Turkish PM Erdogan: Syria has crossed red line, used chemical weapons", National Broadcasting Company of May 9, 2013, viewed on May 9, 2013
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    248. ↑ Reuters of December 21, 2013: "Teen photographer killed while covering civil war in Syria"
    249. ↑ Duraid Adnan: "18 Soldiers in Iraq Are Killed During Raid on Rebel Group's Training Camp" NYT of December 21, 2013, viewed on December 21, 2013
    250. ↑ AP of December 22, 2013: "Activists: Airstrikes Kill at Least 25 in Syria"
    251. ↑ https://news.yahoo.com/activists-syrian-helicopters-bomb-northern-town-135745803.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEu1wCRJjBc0IipRT5Wev76YVCmVoX-aPZVgIE5YptEgkPgO4y9uIo6p94nsF5hYy1EX0bMWuXFGvTgMJE0YJDAPpsUiyhNUPaePWm_haAlbGB5vo_uSEA9f5LVnLy1rZej4rDdJFYTUUBpk_VZYh_76uCmBlxIP2nmdKcR7-eKO
    252. ↑ Steve Gutterman (Reuters) from December 23, 2013 "Russia send armored trucks to Syria to transport chemical arms"
    253. ↑ RT News of December 24, 2013 "Over 360 killes in Syrian army airstrikes on Aleppo - aktivists"
    254. ↑ Stephen Kalin: "Truce in besieged Damascus suburb may bring food to starving residents" Reuters of December 26, 2013, viewed December 26, 2013
    255. ^ The Telegraph: "Syrian rebel-held town raises governments flag in exchange for food" according to AP dated December 27, 2013
    256. ↑ Syria: ceasefire broken again after hours. In: ORF.at . December 26, 2013.
    257. ↑ Stephen Kalin: Scores of rebels killed in Syrian government ambush. In: Reuters.com . December 27, 2013 (English).
    258. ↑ Samia Nakhoul and Stephen Kalin: Beirut bomb kills Lebanese ex-minister who opposed Assad. In: Reuters.com . December 27, 2013 (English).
    259. ↑ Syria conflict: Strike on Aleppo's market “kills 21”. In: BBC News Middle East . December 28, 2013 (English).
    260. ↑ Ma'an News Agency: "UNRWA: 15 Palestinians dead from hunger in Syria camp" of December 31, 2013
    261. ↑ Anne Barnard and Hwaida Saad: "Shelling of a bus in northern Syria Caps a Year Merciless" In: New York Times, December 31, 2013 (English).