ASSESSMENTS

Three Flashpoints in the Syrian Civil War

Feb 23, 2018 | 19:33 GMT

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters walk on the Roman bridge in the archaeological site of Cyrrhus, northeast of the Syrian city of Afrin, in February 2018.

Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters walk on the Roman bridge in the archaeological site of Cyrrhus, northeast of the Syrian city of Afrin, in February 2018.

(NAZEER AL-KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • The Syrian civil war is heading in a new direction.
  • As various operations in Afrin, Idlib and Damascus play out, the front lines of the Syrian civil war will become more static.
  • Despite a decrease in major offensives, the presence of so many foreign powers with intersecting interests heightens the risk of violence.

Since the start of the year, three prominent regions in the Syrian civil war have emerged as its current flashpoints: Afrin, Idlib and Damascus. These hotbeds of military activity represent the intersection of the various proxy battles underway in Syria. Turkey, Russia, Iran, the Syrian government, and the many loyalist and rebel militant groups active throughout the country all have unique goals. In the flashpoint regions, however, their objectives are overlapping to move the Syrian conflict into a new, more static phase. As these three remaining major offensives wane in the coming months, they will give way to constant deadly skirmishes and attacks along the front lines, with few significant changes in territorial control....

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