Terrorism in Syria

Terrorism in Syria has a long history dating from the state-terrorism deployed by the Ba'athist government since its seizure of power through a violent coup in 1963. The Ba'athist government have since deployed various types of state terrorism; such as ethnic cleansing, forced deportations, massacres, summary executions, mass rapes and other forms of violence to maintain its totalitarian rule in Syria. The most extensive use of state terrorism in the 21st century was the extensive state deployed violence against civilians during the 2004 Qamishli massacre.

When the Arab Spring spread to Syria in 2011, the Ba'athist security apparatus launched a brutal crackdown against peaceful protestors calling for freedom and dignity, which killed thousands of civilians and deteriorated into a full-scale civil war. Taking advantage of the situation, transnational Jihadist groups like Islamic State and al-Nusra began to emerge, emulating the deadly terrorist tactics of the Assad regime.^[1][2]

After over a decade of war, the country has been devastated, with over 600,000 deaths and millions have been displaced, sparking the largest refugee crisis in the world. Syrian military and Ba'athist security forces have systematically unleashed scorched earth tactics on populations it deemed hostile; receiving international condemnation. These include hundreds of chemical attacks, massacres, torture, mass rapes, ethnic cleansing, forced disappearances and various other acts of state terror under orders from the highest echelons of the Ba'athist regime.^[3]