TIME

With Aleppo’s fall, Syria’s civil war reaches a grim turning point

Progovernment forces in the courtyard of Aleppo’s Umayyad mosque on Dec. 13

WHEN SYRIANS POURED INTO THE streets in March 2011 to demand an end to President Bashar Assad’s repressive regime, in the country’s largest city, the first protests were small. It was not until 2012, after peaceful demonstrations had turned to armed resistance, that rebel fighters captured a section of Aleppo and the city took its place as the epicenter of the Syrian crisis.

Against overwhelming odds, the rebels managed to hold on to

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from TIME

TIME4 min readInternational Relations
Fighting To Free Russia’s Political Prisoners
Vladimir Putin’s presidential victory this march was more of a coronation than an election. With the political system heavily skewed in his favor and all significant opponents disqualified, jailed, or dead, the vote was almost entirely pro forma. Sti
TIME3 min read
Stepping Up
Where do you find influence in 2024? You can start with the offices of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Vilnius, Lithuania, where TIME met with Yulia Navalnaya earlier this spring. There, the activist is working with 60 supporters—whose anti-Kremlin
TIME1 min readCrime & Violence
A Gang Crisis In Haiti
A police officer guards the National Penitentiary in Port-au-Prince on March 14, 12 days after gang members stormed the country’s two largest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Gangs were implicated in the 2021 assassination of the last elec

Related Books & Audiobooks