Icon: enlarge
1/7
Candles stand on the graves of people who were killed during the war in Syria.
According to activist counts, at least 388,000 people have been killed in the country since the beginning of the war ten years ago and millions have been displaced.
Tens of thousands more have been arbitrarily arrested and still disappeared, according to a UN report.
Thousands were subjected to torture and sexual violence or died in custody.
Photo: Baderkhan Ahmad / picture alliance / dpa / AP
Icon: enlarge
2/7
The war began in the course of the Arab Spring in March 2011. Initially, thousands of mainly young Syrians demonstrated in many cities for simple reforms.
Soldiers from the regime of ruler Bashar al-Assad soon began to brutally suppress the protests.
Soon the first demonstrators disappeared without a trace.
The protests became radicalized and resistance members armed themselves.
Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP
Icon: enlarge
3/7
Assad quickly sent tanks and fighter planes to the protest strongholds in Aleppo, Daraa and Homs.
His dreaded ghost militia "Schabiha" positioned snipers on the roofs.
The EU sanctioned Syria, cut trade relations, the US spoke of "red lines".
The regime passed one by one.
Photo: Uncredited / AP
Icon: enlarge
4/7
Poison gas attacks have been detected several times, including in August 2013 on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta and in 2017 in Chan Sheikhun.
Dozens of people were killed in the attacks.
The Syrian government denies the use of the banned weapons.
Photo: Lokman Sair / Anadolu / Getty Images
Icon: enlarge
5/7
In the chaos of the civil war, jihadists increasingly spread.
The most successful of them: the so-called Islamic State (IS).
Former soldiers from Iraq infiltrated Syria and gradually built up a terror regime - like here in the world cultural heritage site of Palmyra.
Large parts of Syria soon belonged to IS territory.
An international alliance flew air strikes against IS from autumn 2014.
Photo: Sergei Chirikov / picture alliance / dpa
Icon: enlarge
6/7
In a few years the Syrian war grew into an international conflict.
In addition to Assad henchmen, Syrian rebels and IS jihadists, Kurds, Turkish troops, Iranian mercenaries and Russian elite soldiers were soon fighting in the country.
The civilian population has since been crushed between the fronts.
A whole generation of children, like 10-year-old Issa here in Aleppo, are growing up in a world of violence.
Photo: Hamid Khatib / Reuters
Icon: enlarge
7/7
In the eleventh year of the war, IS is largely defeated, but the Assad regime has been strengthened.
Many people have given up their hopes for reform - or are still on the run in the country.
The last rebels - and also jihadist groups - are crammed into the province of Idlib.
Many families live here in refugee camps like here in the village of Betinte.
Photo: Anadolu Agency / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
mrc