Why is syria fighting

What role will Iran and the militias it supports continue to play in the country? And how will the Biden administration approach a conflict that no longer commands attention in the U.

But he does not have the money to do it, and the powers that do—the United States and Europe—say they are unwilling to hand over any funds without regime change. Assad, meanwhile, has said he is not even willing to consider institutional reforms that might satisfy some of his critics. That could spell a cycle of domestic crises ahead for Syria and its citizens.

Despite waning international interest, the humanitarian crisis sparked by the Syrian civil war is far from over. What began as a simple confrontation between the government and its domestic opponents has evolved into a geopolitical quagmire. Still caught in the middle, with little cause for optimism, are the Syrian people.

I know a solution is not easy, but world powers should do whatever they can to end the nightmare. The United Nations Security Council has been unable to take any meaningful action to end the crisis, paralyzed by both Assad's ally Russia and China wielding veto power as permanent members. Russia has vetoed 16 Security Council Resolutions related to Syria, and it was backed by China on many of those occasions. President Joe Biden's administration said last week that Assad had done nothing to restore his legitimacy, and it rejected any restoration of official ties with his government "anytime soon.

In a statement marking a decade of civil war, U. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week that while Syria had fallen off front pages around the world, "the situation remains a living nightmare. The comments by US National Security Adviser John Bolton appeared to put the brakes on a withdrawal abruptly announced by Donald Trump last month and initially expected to be completed within weeks.

Demonstrators in Kobani, made up mostly of schoolchildren, protest against the Turkish shelling of Kurdish villages in November. Youths in Kobani make their way back from the funeral of a Kurdish fighter. Kurdish residents fear that another military onslaught is imminent. Its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon is also a major backer of the Assad regime. Tehran also needs Syria to transport weapons to Hezbollah , which also opposes Israel, in neighboring Lebanon. Iran's larger goal is to create a land corridor extending from Iran to Lebanon through Iraq and Syria.

Tehran has also sponsored the Astana peace talks along with Turkey and Russia. Read more: Iran and Israel's Syrian shadow war laid bare.

Every evening, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. Russia's military campaign objectives "have been almost accomplished," according to an influential lawmaker.

With talks gearing up, the UN's chief negotiator said the peace process had reached a "moment of truth. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? Change it here DW. COM has chosen English as your language setting. COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle. Audiotrainer Deutschtrainer Die Bienenretter. Some 6. One million Syrian refugee children have been born in exile. As of January , More than 12 million were struggling to find enough food each day and half a million children were chronically malnourished.

In the past year the humanitarian crisis has been compounded by an unprecedented economic downturn, which saw the value of Syria's currency decline drastically and food prices reach historic highs. In addition, the country has suffered a Covid outbreak, whose true extent is not known because of limited testing capacity and a devastated healthcare system. Entire neighbourhoods and vital infrastructure across the country also remain in ruins after a decade of fighting.

UN satellite analysis suggested that more than 35, structures were damaged or destroyed in Aleppo city alone before it was recaptured by the government in late And despite their protected status, attacks on separate medical facilities had been documented by Physicians for Human Rights as of March , resulting in the deaths of medical personnel. Such attacks have left only half of the country's hospitals fully functional.

Much of Syria's rich cultural heritage has also been destroyed. All six of the country's Unesco World Heritage sites have been damaged significantly, with IS militants deliberately blowing up parts of the ancient city of Palmyra.

UN war crimes investigators have accused all parties of perpetrating "the most heinous violations". The government has regained control of Syria's biggest cities, but large parts of the country are still held by rebels, jihadists and the Kurdish-led SDF. The last remaining opposition stronghold is in the north-western province of Idlib and adjoining parts of northern Hama and western Aleppo provinces.

The region is dominated by a jihadist alliance called Hayat Tahrir al-Sham HTS , but is also home to mainstream rebel factions. An estimated 2.