The
Syrian Civil War is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict with international interventions taking place in
Syria. The
unrest began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of the
Arab Spring protests, with nationwide protests against President
Bashar al-Assad's government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The conflict gradually morphed from mass protests to an armed rebellion after months of military sieges. A United Nations report released in December, 2012, stated that the conflict had "become overtly
sectarian in nature", between mostly
Alawite government forces, militias and other
Shia groups fighting primarily against
Sunni-dominated rebel groups; however both opposition and government forces denied that.