The UN has launched an evacuation in four besieged towns, including Madaya, where numerous people died from starvation last year. The operation was staged as the Saudi-backed opposition left peace talks in Geneva.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
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On Wednesday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced that a humanitarian task force had launched an evacuation, adding that there was no timeframe for when the operations would be completed.
"Plans are underway to evacuate some 500 people, including the sick, wounded and their family members, from the besieged four towns - Fuaa, Kafraya, Madaya and Zabadani - in urgent need of life-saving medical attention," said Dujarric.
Some 250 people will be taken from two government-held towns and another 250 from two rebel-controlled municipalities as part of the negotiated operation.
"The sad thing is, we should not have to negotiate medical evacuations," Dujarric added.
Starvation as a weapon
Madaya, a town under siege by government forces, gained notoriety last year when dozens of people died from starvation, sparking international condemnation. In January, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the use of starvation in Syria's conflict as a "war crime."
More than 270,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted when government forces launched a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down.
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Image: AP
The "Arab Spring" effect
In 2011, as regimes crumble across the region, tens of thousands of Syrians take to the streets to protest against corruption, high unemployment and soaring food prices. The Syrian government responds with live ammunition, claiming some 400 lives by May.
Image: dapd
Condemnation without consensus
At the urging of Western countries, the UN Security Council condemns the violent crackdown. The EU and US implement an arms embargo, visa bans and asset freezes in the months that follow. With the backing of the Arab League, calls eventually grow for the Syrian president's departure. But not all UN members agree with this demand.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Szenes
Assad refuses to back down
Bashar al-Assad - who has been in power since the death of his father in 2000 - sees his reputation wane with the continuing unrest. He refuses to end decades-long emergency rule, which allows for surveillance and interrogation. Russia backs its ally, supplying weapons and vetoing UN resolutions on Syria multiple times.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Badawi
The opposition gets organized
By the end of the year, human rights groups and the UN have evidence of human rights abuses. Civilians and military deserters are slowly beginning to organize themselves to fight back against government forces, which have been targeting dissidents. More than 5,000 have died so far in the fighting. It will take another six months before the UN acknowledges that a war is taking place on Syrian soil.
Image: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Outside intervention
In September 2012, Iran confirms that it has fighters on the ground in Syria - a fact long denied by Damascus. The presence of allied troops underscores the hesitance of the US and other Western powers to intervene in the conflict. The US, stung by failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, sees dialogue as the only reasonable solution.
Image: AP
Fleeing the conflict
As the death toll nears 100,000, the number of refugees in neighboring countries - such as Turkey and Jordan - hits one million. That number will double by September 2013. The West and the Arab League have seen all attempts at a transitional government fail in the two years of war, watching as fighting spills over into Turkey and Lebanon. They fear Assad will stay in power by any means possible.
Image: Reuters/B. Khabieh
No united front against Assad
Assad has long claimed he's combatting terrorists. But it's not until the second year of war that the fragmented Free Syrian Army is definitely known to include radical extremists. The group Al-Nusra Front pledges allegiance to al Qaeda, further splintering the opposition.
Image: Reuters/A. Abdullah
From brute force to chemical warfare
In June 2013, the White House says it has evidence that Assad has been using sarin nerve gas on civilians - a report later backed by the UN. The discovery pushes US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders toward considering the use of military force. However, Russia's proposal to remove the chemical weapons ultimately wins out.
Image: Reuters
Islamic State emerges
Reports of a new jihadist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) emerge in the final weeks of 2013. Taking land in northern Syria and Iraq, the group sparks infighting among the opposition, with some 500 dead by early 2014. The unexpected emergence of IS ultimately draws the US, France, Saudi Arabia and other nations into the war.
The High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which serves as an umbrella group for rebel forces, said it "remains fully committed to the political process and establishing peace through diplomacy."
However, HNC spokesman Salem al-Meslet said it would not participate in talks with al-Assad while civilians are being killed, claiming that a ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia had been violated more than 2,000 times by government forces.
"It is not suitable, neither morally nor on the humanitarian side, to be part of negotiations when Syrians are dying daily from sieges, hunger, bombings, poisonous gases and barrel bombs," said HNC leader Riad Hijab.
Meanwhile, Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria's ambassador to the UN, described the HNC as a group of "extremists, terrorists and mercenaries," saying only those who reject terrorism could be part of a "broad-based unity government." Damascus considers all rebel groups fighting to overthrow al-Assad to be "terrorists."
