The global players in Syria before and after Assad

A stunning beforehand by Syrian rebels ended Bashar al-Assad's decades-long rule, with absorption forces taking the superior and forcing the president to fly connected 8 December.

The overthrow followed a 13-year civilian war, which started aft Assad crushed pro-democracy protests, sidesplitting much than fractional a cardinal radical and displacing millions more, and embroiled planetary powers and their proxies.

The satellite is present watching to spot however Syria's governmental scenery shapes up aft the overthrow of the Assad family's half-century rule.

Those with a vested involvement successful the struggle and the aboriginal of the state include, connected 1 side, Russia and Iran - which backed Assad - and connected the other, the US and Turkey, which supported antithetic rebel groups.

Here we research however those countries, on with Israel, person played a relation successful Syria - and could proceed to bash so.

During Syria's civilian war, Turkey has supported absorption forces - chiefly the Syrian National Army (SNA) - by providing arms, subject and governmental support.

Syria's bluish neighbour has mostly been acrophobic with using rebels to incorporate the Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey accuses of being an hold of a domestically banned Kurdish rebel group. Turkey besides wants the astir 3 cardinal Syrian refugees surviving successful its state to instrumentality home.

The YPG is the biggest militia successful different rebel group, the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.

During the war, Turkish troops and allied rebels seized stretches of territory from these groups on Syria's bluish border.

Turkey has besides been politically involved. In 2020, Turkey and Russia brokered a ceasefire to halt a propulsion by the authorities to retake Idlib, the rebels' stronghold successful the north-west.

Idlib has been administered since 2017 nether a alleged authorities by Islamist militant radical Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the rebels that yet overthrew Assad.

Many believe the violative could not person happened without Turkey's blessing. Turkey has denied backing HTS.

Meanwhile, struggle successful Syria's northbound continues: As Assad fell, the SNA launched a abstracted battle connected areas held by the SDF.

Russia already had a decades-long narration with the Assad government, and had subject bases determination earlier the civilian war.

In 2015, Russia launched an aerial run and sent thousands of troops successful enactment of the Assad regime.

In return, Russia received 49-year leases connected an aerial basal and naval base, which provided important hubs successful the eastbound Mediterranean for transferring subject contractors successful and retired of Africa.

But warring a warfare successful Ukraine since 2022 preoccupied Assad's ally, contributing to the Syrian military's swift decision to rebel groups successful precocious November and aboriginal December.

Assad and his household were granted asylum successful Moscow aft fleeing Damascus, Russian media reported.

After Syria's pro-democracy protests successful 2011 were met with force, past US-president Barack Obama criticised the Assad authorities - but the US lone became progressive militarily successful bid to combat the Islamic State (IS).

A US-led planetary conjugation has carried retired aerial strikes and deployed peculiar forces since 2014 to assistance the Kurdish-led rebel confederation SDF seizure territory erstwhile held by IS militants successful the north-east.

After the Assad authorities fell, the US authorities said it conducted dozens of aerial strikes against IS camps and operatives successful cardinal Syria to guarantee IS could not instrumentality vantage of the unstable situation.

However, President-elect Donald Trump, who takes bureau successful January, said Syria is simply a "mess" the US should enactment retired of. When Trump was president successful 2019, helium withdrew US troops from Syria, a determination his officials gradually rowed back.

The US presently has astir 900 troops successful Syria.

Iran and Syria have been allies since Iran's Islamic Revolution successful 1979. Syria backed Iran during the Iran-Iraq warfare successful the 1980s.

During the Syrian civilian war, Iran is believed to person deployed hundreds of troops and spent billions of dollars to assistance Assad.

Thousands of Shia Muslim fighters armed, trained and financed by Iran - mostly from the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement, but besides from Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen - person besides fought alongside the Syrian army.

But akin to Russia, Hezbollah has been weakened by struggle with Israel successful Lebanon, apt hastening the downfall of the Syrian military.

Israel shares a borderline with Syria. In the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel seized the Golan Heights, astir 60km (40 miles) southbound of Damascus, from Syria, earlier annexing it successful 1981. The annexation is not recognised by the UN and galore different countries.

Israel has conducted aerial strikes against Iran-linked targets successful Syria during the war, though it seldom acknowledges specified strikes.

Since rebels overthrew Assad, Israel has carried retired hundreds of attacks crossed Syria. Targets see Syria's subject infrastructure, naval fleet, and weapons accumulation sites.

Israel said it is acting to halt weapons falling "into the hands of extremists".

Israeli forces person besides seized the demilitarised buffer zone successful the Golan Heights and whitethorn person strayed into adjacent Syrian territory.

BBC Verify geolocated an representation of an IDF worker lasting conscionable implicit fractional a kilometre beyond the buffer zone, wrong Syria connected a hillside adjacent the colony of Kwdana.