An Overview of Significant Events in the Syrian Crisis Since March 2011

The Associated Press has reported on the developments in the Syrian civil war from March 2011 to the present: A two-month ceasefire during which war-torn areas of Syria experienced a period of calm has effectively been broken, particularly in the north of the country, which has witnessed troop buildups and intense military clashes in recent days. - March 2011: In protest against the arrest of a group of schoolboys by security forces for writing anti-government slogans on school walls, a group of people in the city of Daraa staged demonstrations. On March 15, a protest was held in the old part of Damascus. On March 18, security forces in Daraa opened fire on demonstrators, resulting in the deaths of four people. Opposition activists consider these individuals to be the first victims of the anti-government uprising. Anti-government protests and the severe crackdown by security forces expanded. - April 2011: Security forces attacked a large sit-in in Homs, Syria's third-largest city. The organizers aimed to create a movement similar to the gatherings in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which sparked protests in Egypt and the ousting of Hosni Mubarak's regime. - June 2011: Several police and military personnel in the city of Jisr al-Shughur in northeastern Syria joined the demonstrators, resulting in opposition forces gaining control of a Syrian city for the first time. Within days, Syrian special forces, using tanks and helicopters, launched a heavy assault to retake the city. - August 2011: Barack Obama called for Bashar al-Assad to step down and ordered the freezing of Syrian government assets. - July 2012: A bombing at the National Security Council building in Damascus during an emergency government meeting killed four senior officials, including Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, the then Minister of Defense. - Summer 2012: Armed clashes spread to Aleppo, Syria's largest city and former commercial capital. - August 2012: Kofi Annan resigned from his position as the UN and Arab League envoy to the Syrian crisis after his failed attempts to establish a ceasefire. Barack Obama declared that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a "red line" and would change his stance on military intervention in the country. - March 2013: Rebels captured the city of Raqqa, with a population of 500,000 on the banks of the Euphrates River, marking the first major city to fall to the rebels. - May and June 2013: Syrian government forces, supported by thousands of Hezbollah fighters, retook the strategic city of Qusair near the Lebanese border from the rebels. - August and September 2013: Hundreds were killed in chemical attacks in the suburbs of Damascus. Barack Obama held the Syrian government responsible for the attack, stating that the U.S. felt a responsibility regarding such attacks and would defer its response to Congress. In response, Russia proposed that the Syrian government hand over all its chemical weapons to the international community to prevent military action against the country. - January 2014: Fighting between rival rebel groups escalated. A collection of Islamist and moderate groups within the Syrian rebels engaged in conflict with a group known as the "Islamic State," which had split from al-Qaeda in Iraq. - February 2014: Two rounds of peace talks under the supervision of UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi ended without any achievements in Geneva. - May 9, 2014: Rebels retreated from the old city center of Homs, marking a significant symbolic victory for government forces. - May 13, 2014: Lakhdar Brahimi resigned from his position as UN and Arab League envoy after the failure of the second round of efforts to end the Syrian civil war. - June 3, 2014: In a vote held only in government-controlled areas, Bashar al-Assad was re-elected for another seven-year term as President of Syria. Opposition forces condemned the election. - June 2014: A group known as the "Islamic Caliphate" seized a large portion of northern and western Iraq. This group, which had taken control of one-third of the territory of Syria and Iraq, declared the establishment of its self-proclaimed caliphate. - July 3, 2014: The "Islamic Caliphate" took control of the largest oil field in Syria, known as al-Omar, after a fierce battle with al-Qaeda's Syrian branch (Jabhat al-Nusra). - August 19, 2014: The "Islamic Caliphate" released a video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley, the first Western hostage to be executed by the group. - Mid-September 2014: The "Islamic Caliphate" launched an offensive to capture the Kurdish city of Kobani on the border with Turkey. - September 23, 2014: An international coalition led by the U.S. began airstrikes against the "Islamic Caliphate" positions in Syria. - January 2015: The United Nations announced that at least 220,000 people had been killed due to the Syrian civil war, and about one-third of the country's 22 million population had been displaced. - January 26, 2015: Kurdish fighters, with the help of airstrikes from the international coalition led by the U.S., recaptured the city of Kobani. - February 3, 2015: The "Islamic Caliphate" released a live video of the burning of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh, who had been captured by them. - March 28, 2015: The city of Idlib in northwestern Syria was captured by Islamist rebels led by Jabhat al-Nusra. - May 6, 2015: Bashar al-Assad admitted to the heavy losses and retreats of the Syrian army. - September 30, 2015: Russia began its airstrikes in support of the positions and operations of the Syrian army. - November 14, 2015: In a meeting of seventeen global and regional powers in Geneva, a timeline for a transitional period in Syria, including drafting a new constitution and holding parliamentary and presidential elections under UN supervision within eighteen months, was approved. - December 18, 2015: The UN Security Council approved Resolution 2254, endorsing the plans agreed upon at the Geneva conference. - February 3, 2016: Indirect peace talks between representatives of the government and Syrian rebels failed just days after they began due to the Syrian army's operations supported by Russian airstrikes to capture the city of Aleppo. - February 27, 2016: A temporary ceasefire plan, arranged by the U.S. and Russia, was implemented in Syria. - March 14, 2016: Another round of indirect negotiations between the government and opposition in Geneva ended without results after ten days. - April 13, 2016: The Syrian government held parliamentary elections in areas under its control. - April 27, 2016: Another round of indirect negotiations between the government and opposition in Geneva ended without results. Armed clashes and troop buildups by both sides in northern Syria effectively ended the ceasefire, although neither side officially declared its termination. - April 28, 2016: Over 60 people were killed due to bombardment and shelling in Aleppo. At least 27 of the victims lost their lives due to an airstrike on a Médecins Sans Frontières clinic and an adjacent building. In this context, de Mistura estimated the death toll of the Syrian civil war at 400,000. The U.S. held the Syrian government responsible for the attack on the hospital in Aleppo.