It has inflicted severe punishments on those who transgress or

Sat, Jul 13, 2013

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The story of the conflict

Canada Goose Outlet Pro democracy protests erupted in March 2011 in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on a school wall. After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, killing several, more took to the streets. Canada Goose Outlet

canada goose store The unrest triggered nationwide protests demanding President Assad’s resignation. The government’s use of force to crush the dissent merely hardened the protesters’ resolve. By July 2011, hundreds of thousands were taking to the streets across the country. canada goose store

Violence escalated and the country descended into civil war as rebel brigades were formed to battle government forces for control of cities, towns and the countryside. Fighting reached the capital Damascus and second city of Aleppo in 2012.

canada goose By June 2013, the UN said 90,000 canada goose outlet usa people had been killed in the conflict. By August 2015, that figure had climbed to 250,000, according to activists and the UN. canada goose

The conflict is now more than just a battle between those for or against Mr Assad. It has acquired sectarian overtones, pitching the country’s Sunni majority against the president’s Shia canada goose outlet in vancouver Alawite sect, and drawn in regional and world powers. The rise of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has added a further dimension.

cheap Canada Goose A UN commission of inquiry has evidence that all parties to the conflict have committed war crimes including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances. They have also been accused of using civilian suffering such as blocking access to food, water and health services through sieges as a method of war. cheap Canada Goose

The UN Security Council has demanded all parties end the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas, but civilians continue to die in their thousands. Many canada goose outlet boston have been killed by barrel canada goose outlet reviews bombs dropped by government aircraft on gatherings in rebel held areas attacks which the UN says may constitute massacres.

Canada Goose Parka IS has also been accused by the UN of waging a campaign of terror. It has inflicted severe punishments on those who transgress or refuse canada goose jacket outlet store to accept its rules, including hundreds of public executions and amputations. Its fighters have also carried out mass killings of rival armed groups, members of the security forces and religious minorities, and beheaded hostages, including canada goose outlet in usa several Westerners. Canada Goose Parka

buy canada goose jacket Hundreds of people were killed in August 2013 after rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin were fired at several suburbs of Damascus. Western powers said canada goose outlet edmonton it could only have been carried out by Syria’s government, but the government blamed canada goose outlet jackets rebel forces. buy canada goose jacket

canada goose deals Facing the prospect of US military intervention, President Assad agreed to the complete removal and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal. canada goose deals

The operation was completed the following year, but the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has continued to document the use of toxic chemicals in the conflict. Investigators found chlorine was used “systematically and repeatedly” in deadly attacks on rebel canada goose outlet montreal held areas between April and July 2014.

canada goose black friday sale IS has also been accused of using homemade chemical weapons, including canada goose outlet winnipeg sulphur mustard. The OPCW canada goose outlet online reviews said the blister agent was used in an attack on the northern town canada goose outlet store toronto of Marea in August 2015 that killed a baby. canada goose black friday sale

Canada Goose Jackets More than 4.5 million people have fled Syria since the canada goose outlet store uk start of the conflict, canada goose outlet near me most of them women and children. Neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey canada goose premium outlet have struggled to cope with one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history. About 10% of Syrian refugees have sought safety in Europe, sowing political divisions as countries argue over sharing the burden. Canada Goose Jackets

buy canada goose jacket cheap A further 6.5 million people are internally displaced inside Syria, 1.2 million were driven from their homes in 2015 alone. buy canada goose jacket cheap

Canada Goose online The UN says it will need $3.2bn to help the 13.5 million canada goose outlet vip people, including 6 million children, who will require some form of humanitarian assistance inside Syria in 2016. canada goose factory outlet About canada goose outlet 70% of the population is without access to adequate drinking water, one in three people are unable to meet their basic food needs, and more than 2 million children canada goose outlet mall are out of school, and four out of five people live in poverty. Canada Goose online

canada goose clearance sale The warring parties have compounded the problems by refusing humanitarian agencies access to civilians in need. Up canada goose outlet 80 off to 4.5 canada goose outlet houston million people in Syria live in hard to reach areas, canada goose parka outlet uk including nearly 400,000 people in 15 besieged locations who do not have access to life saving aid. canada goose clearance sale

canada goose clearance The armed rebellion has evolved significantly since its inception. Secular moderates are now outnumbered by Islamists and jihadists, whose brutal tactics have caused global outrage. canada goose clearance

So called Islamic State has capitalised on the chaos and taken control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq, where it proclaimed the canada goose clothing uk creation of a “caliphate” in June 2014. Its many foreign fighters are involved in a “war within a war” in canada goose outlet real Syria, battling rebels and rival jihadists from the al Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front, as well as government and Kurdish forces.

In September 2014, a US led coalition launched air strikes inside Syria in canada goose outlet toronto an effort to “degrade and ultimately destroy” IS. But the coalition has avoided attacks that might benefit Mr Assad’s forces. Russia began an air campaign targeting “terrorists” in Syria a year later, but opposition activists say its strikes have mostly killed Western backed rebels and civilians.

In the political arena, opposition groups are also deeply divided, with rival alliances battling for supremacy. The most canada goose outlet los angeles prominent is the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, backed by several Western and Gulf Arab states. However, the exile group has little influence on the ground in Syria and its primacy is rejected by many opponents of Mr Assad.

With neither side able to inflict a decisive defeat on the other, the international community long ago concluded that only a political solution could end the conflict in Syria. The UN Security Council has called for the canada goose outlet paypal implementation of the canada goose outlet niagara falls 2012 Geneva Communique, which envisages a transitional governing body with full executive powers “formed on the basis of mutual consent”.

Talks in early 2014, known as Geneva II, broke down after only two rounds, with then UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi blaming the Syrian government’s refusal to discuss opposition demands.

Mr Brahimi’s successor, Staffan de Mistura, focused on establishing a series of local ceasefires. His plan for a “freeze zone” in Aleppo was rejected, but a three year siege of the Homs suburb of al Wair was canada goose vest outlet successfully brought to an end in December 2015.

canada goose coats on sale At the same time, the conflict with IS lent fresh impetus to the search https://www.getcanadagooseoutlet.com for a political solution in Syria. The US and Russia led efforts to get representatives of the government and the opposition to attend “proximity talks” in Geneva in January 2016 to discuss a Security Council endorsed road map for peace, including a ceasefire and a transitional period ending with elections. canada goose coats on sale

canadian goose jacket What began as another Arab canada goose outlet uk sale Spring uprising against an autocratic ruler has mushroomed into a brutal proxy war that has drawn in regional and world powers. canadian goose jacket

Canada Goose sale Iran and Russia have propped up the Alawite led government of President Assad and gradually increased their support. Tehran is believed to be spending billions of dollars a year to bolster Mr Assad, providing military advisers and subsidised weapons, as well as lines of credit and oil transfers. Russia has meanwhile launched an air campaign against Mr Assad’s opponents. Canada Goose sale

The Syrian government has also enjoyed the support canada goose outlet 2015 of Lebanon’s Shia Islamist Hezbollah movement, whose fighters have provided important battlefield support since 2013.

The Sunni dominated opposition has, meanwhile, attracted varying degrees of support from its international backers Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan, along with the US, UK and France.

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