Syria’s civil war returned to the spotlight after a new rebel coalition launched a surprise attack, capturing two major cities and targeting the capital Damascus, breaking the stalemate of a war that never formally ended.
The conflict, which since 2011 has killed more than 300,000 people and driven nearly six million refugees from the country, has wide-ranging ramifications across the region and the world.
The 10-day lightning offensive caught many off guard in the attempt to overthrow the Syrian president’s regime.
But who is the Syrian that the armed opposition groups are trying to overthrow?
Who is Bashar al-Assad?
Bashar al-Assad was elected president of Syria, unopposed, on July 10, 2000. On May 29, 2007, Assad sought re-election and was elected to a second seven-year term, again unopposed.
The Assad dynasty has been in power for 53 years since becoming president in 1971. Hafez held the position for 29 years until his death in 2000.
After that, the regime continued under the leadership of his son and current Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
To maintain its decades-long dominance, the regime killed hundreds of thousands of people, arrested opponents and acted violently towards millions of people inside and outside Syria.
At the height of the Arab Spring in 2011, pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in Syria calling for Assad’s departure. Protesters were met with lethal force.
As Assad’s army crushed the pro-democracy movement, it was made up of small organic militias and some defectors from the Syrian army.
In the same year, the United States, Jordan, Türkiye and the European Union called on Assad to resign.
In 2014, Assad was re-elected with 88.7% of the vote. This was Syria’s first election since the start of the civil war in 2011.
And in 2021, Assad was re-elected with 95.1% of the vote, although the US, UK, France, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement calling it a “fraudulent election”.
Assad’s dominance over the country was reinforced by his allies. As anti-government forces grew after the 2011 Arab Spring, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as well as its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, helped combat armed rebel groups on the ground.
The Syrian Air Force has been reinforced by Russian warplanes.
Assad has been accused of human rights violations during the war. In 2013, United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors returned “overwhelming and indisputable” evidence of gas use in Syria.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ Investigation and Identification Team concluded that Assad’s forces were responsible for a series of chemical attacks on a Syrian city in late March 2017.
Syrian authorities have repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, insisting they are targeting terrorists rather than peaceful protesters.
