Syria war live tracker: Maps and charts

In the early hours of December 8, groups opposing the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), captured the capital, Damascus, after an 11-day surprise offensive, ending al-Assad’s 24-year rule.

The leader of HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, has promised to rebuild Syria, saying Syrians are “exhausted” after nearly 14 years of war.

Who controls what on the ground?

Syrian opposition fighters say they’ve taken over the northeastern city of Deir Az Zor from Kurdish forces. This follows a ceasefire announcement by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Turkiye-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) after days of fighting around Manbij.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Israeli attacks have targeted military sites in Syria’s coastal Tartous region, calling them “the heaviest strikes” in the area in more than a decade.

The map below shows the territorial control of various groups as of 11:30 GMT on December 16, 2024.

There have been four main groups competing for control on the ground in Syria. They are:

• Syrian government forces: The army, the government’s main military force, fights alongside the National Defence Forces, a pro-government paramilitary group.
• Syrian Democratic Forces: This Kurdish-dominated, United States-backed group controls parts of eastern Syria.
• HTS and other allied opposition groups: The HTS is the largest fighting force and the strongest presence in opposition-held Idlib.
• Turkish and Turkish-aligned Syrian rebel forces: The Syrian National Army is a Turkish-backed rebel force in northern Syria.

Israel pounds hundreds of targets across Syria

Following the removal of Bashar al-Assad, Israeli forces have launched one of their largest air attacks in Syria, targeting more than 480 sites, including main airports, air defence facilities, fighter jets, naval vessels and other strategic infrastructure.

Seaports in Latakia and al-Beida were bombed, while the Tiyas airbase as well as Damascus and Qamishli airports were also hit.

The Israeli military estimates it destroyed up to 80 percent of Syria’s military capabilities in what it calls one of the largest offensive operations in its history.

The Israeli military and a Syrian war monitor said the targets included:

• Air defence systems, radars, missile launchers and firing positions
• Fighter jets, military helicopters and hangars at multiple airbases
• At least 15 naval vessels, including ships and missile boats
• Weapons depots, production sites and a variety of missiles
• Scientific research centres linked with Syria’s chemical weapons programme

What will happen to Syria’s refugees?

Over the past 13 years, more than 13 million Syrians have been displaced from their homes with more than 4.9 million of them seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. An additional 1.3 million have resettled elsewhere, mostly in Europe.

Just days after the fall of al-Assad, countries across Europe – including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom – have all announced plans to pause applications for Syrian people seeking asylum. This includes new asylum applications and those that are still being processed.

Who are Syria’s opposition fighters?

As the struggle against al-Assad’s government ground on in Syria, fighters formed and reformed alliances according to the realities on the ground.

In this latest operation, many fighting groups are represented, clustered into alliances of varying sizes.

The two largest groupings are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the National Front for Liberation, each of which comprises several smaller groups.

All of the groups have agreed to fight under the Military Operations Command, the newest iteration of the Fateh al-Mubin operations command centre that has been operating in the area for the past years.