Millions of people have been displaced in the civil war and one-third of the country remains out of government hands. But the Syrian regime is holding local elections across the country to show strength and normalcy.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/SANA
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Syria held local elections for the first time since 2011 on Sunday, in a bid to show strength and present a veneer of normalcy as President Bashar al-Assad's government re-extends control over large swaths of the country.
Syrians in government-controlled areas cast ballots for more than 40,000 candidates competing for 18,478 seats on local administrative councils.
State news agency SANA said there was "good turnout" at the 6,551 electoral stations, without specifying. Images from state media showed voters putting ballots into plastic boxes with ubiquitous pictures of Syrian President Bashar Assad on the wall looking on.
According to observers, the results are almost sure to be rigged in favor of the ruling Baath Party, which has dominated politics and security in the authoritarian state since the 1960s. Most of the candidates were either from the Baath Party or tied to it.
Sending a message
Backed by Iran and Russia, the Assad regime has turned the tide in the seven-year civil war and now controls almost two-thirds of the country.
After casting his vote in Damascus, Prime Minister Imad Khamis said the elections sent a message to the world that Syria had defeated terrorism and the country has returned to normalcy, state media SANA reported.
Refugees unable to vote
Nearly 12 million people out of a pre-war population of 22 million who have been either internally displaced or made refugees outside the country were unable to vote.
No vote was held in rebel-held Idlib province, where more than 3 million civilians are at-risk ahead of a widely anticipated government offensive that for now appears to have been put on hold pending efforts by rebel-backer Turkey to cut a deal with Russia.
The local elections were also not held in northern Syria, where US-backed Kurdish forces have set up a self-administered region alongside Arab and minority allies.
The Kurds, who have had a tacit understanding with the Assad regime, seek a federal Syria that recognizes minority rights and local administration.
The Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of the armed Syrian Democratic Forces, has organized a series of elections in de facto autonomous Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.
High-level talks between representatives of the self-administered region and Damascus are yet to reach a breakthrough.
Syria last held local elections in December 2011, only nine months into the uprising. Council members serve four-year terms and are mostly responsible for providing services and handling administrative issues.
Syria held parliamentary elections in 2016 and a presidential vote in 2014 that again cemented Assad and Baath Party rule over the country.
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
