Why is there a war in Syria?

In April 2017, President Donald Trump ordered a missile strike on an air base which the US said was behind a deadly chemical attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun.

Washington's key ally on the ground has been an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Since 2015, its fighters have driven IS militants out of most of the territory they controlled in Syria.

In January 2018, the US said it would maintain an open-ended military presence in SDF-controlled territory to ensure the enduring defeat of IS, counter Iranian influence, and help end the civil war.

Turkey is another staunch supporter of the rebels. However, it has used them to contain the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia that dominates the SDF. Ankara accuses the YPG of being an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for three decades.

In August 2016, Turkish troops backed a rebel offensive to drive IS out of one of the last stretches of the Syrian side of the border not controlled by the Kurds, around Jarablus and al-Bab. In January 2018, another operation was launched to drive the YPG out of the north-western Kurdish enclave of Afrin.

Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which is also seeking to counter Iranian influence, has been a major provider of military and financial assistance to the rebels.

What impact has the war had?

The UN says at least 250,000 people have been killed. However, the organisation stopped updating its figures in August 2015.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, reported in December 2017 that it had documented the deaths of more than 346,600 people, including 103,000 civilians. But it noted that the figure did not include 56,900 people who were missing and presumed dead.

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