May 30, 2014

Some 2,000 people, including 283 women and 567 children, have been killed so far this year by Syrian government air attacks in the northern city of Aleppo, reports the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based human rights group. The Syrian air force has dropped “barrel bombs” on the city in the government’s attempt to put down the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad. Barrel bombs, packed with explosives, are a crude and highly inaccurate weapon, generally rolled out of helicopters from a high altitude. They inflict massive damage, often devastating entire neighborhoods in the densely built-up areas of Aleppo controlled by rebel forces. The fighting in Aleppo has damaged much of the Old City, including the citadel and the suq, which are both UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Both rebels and government troops have for months attempted to end the stalemate in Aleppo, where the front lines have moved little in more than two years of fighting. Rebel-held areas of Aleppo have been subjected to fierce aerial bombardment since mid-December.

The forces of President Bashar al-Assad have destroyed much of the ancient city of Aleppo in their attempt to put down a rebellion. (AP/Wide World)

The rebellion in Syria, which led to the civil war, began in March 2011. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights–which has a network of activists in Syria reporting on the war–has tabulated that more than 162,000 people have been killed in the three-year conflict.

Additional World Book articles:

• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2013 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria: The Roots of a Rebellion (a special report)

May 8, 2014

A massive explosion today in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo destroyed an historic, luxury hotel and triggered the collapse of several other buildings. A bomb, believed to have been set by rebel fighters, was detonated by remote control in a tunnel beneath the Carlton Citadel Hotel, adjacent to Aleppo’s medieval citadel and close to the city’s ancient suq. Government forces had been using the hotel as a base, and a number of security personnel and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are believed to have been killed in the explosion. The fighting in Aleppo has damaged much of the Old City, including the citadel and the suq, which are both UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Both rebels and government troops have for months attempted to end the stalemate in Aleppo, where the front lines have moved little in more than two years of fighting. Rebel-held areas of Aleppo have been subjected to fierce aerial bombardment since mid-December.

The last rebel forces withdrew from the city of Homs yesterday. Fierce fighting continues in the ancient city of Aleppo and across northern Syria. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

According to the BBC’s correspondent in Syria, government forces have just assumed control of Homs, where nearly 1,000 rebels and their families evacuated yesterday from the city’s last rebel enclave. The United Nations’s resident coordinator in Syria noted to the BBC that while the withdrawal marks the end of three years of resistance, Homs–Syria’s third-largest city–is “incredibly and comprehensively destroyed.” The BBC correspondent reports that government forces are holding their own against rebels in Damascus, the capital, but the stalemate between rebels and government troops in the north “seems as durable as ever.” The rebellion in Syria, which led to the civil war, began in March 2011.

Additional World Book articles:

• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria: The Roots of a Rebellion (a special report)