2013 in Syria

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Events

For events related to the Civil War, see Timeline of the Syrian Civil War (January–April 2013) and Timeline of the Syrian Civil War (May–December 2013)

January

1 January - Fierce clashes erupt near the Aleppo International Airport in the battle of Aleppo, with unconfirmed reports it has been temporarily closed.
2 January - Syrian Civil War
- An airstrike on a petrol station outside the capital Damascus kills and injures dozens of people.
- The United Nations says the death toll from the conflict could be more than 60,000 people.
4 January - 9 people are killed by a car bomb at a petrol station in Damascus. The bomb reportedly hit the Barzeh al-Balad district, as large numbers of people were queuing for fuel.
6 January - The President of Syria Bashar al-Assad delivers a rare television appearance addressing the Syrian crisis and denounces the Syrian rebels as "enemies of God and puppets of the West". It is his first television appearance since June 2012.
9 January - Forty-eight Iranians who were kidnapped by Free Syrian Army rebels in the capital Damascus in August 2012 are released in exchange for 2,130 prisoners held by the Syrian government.
11 January - Rebel forces take over the strategic Taftanaz airbase in northern Syria.
14 January - Syrian Civil War
- Government forces conduct air raids against rebels south of Damascus, as well as in Aleppo, with local observers reporting dozens of deaths, including children.
- At least 57 countries submit a petition to the UN Security Council, calling on it to refer the conflict to the International Criminal Court for a pending war crimes investigation.
15 January - 83 people are killed and more than 150 injured in a rocket barrage aimed at Aleppo University, as government forces and rebels continue fighting in the suburbs of Damascus. Both sides accused each other of launching the missiles.
16 January - Three car bombs explode near military checkpoints and government buildings in Idlib Governorate, leaving 24 people dead. Two other bombs were defused by government forces.
17 January - 106 people are massacred in the Basatin al-Hasawiya district of Homs, including children. People were shot, stabbed, and burned to death by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad known as the Shabiha.
18 January - Syrian Civil War
- Two suicide car bombs explode south of Damascus, near a mosque killing many people.
- A large explosion rocks Aleppo, causing several casualties. Syria TV says that it was a rocket launched by "terrorists". Syrian rebels state that it was a Syrian Air Force jet causing havoc in the city.
- French journalist Yves Debay is killed by a Syrian sniper while he was covering clashed between Syrian forces and rebels. In a separate incident, Al Jazeera reporter Mohamed al-Horani is killed by a Syrian sniper while covering clashes in Busra al-Harir.
19 January - The children death toll of the Syrian civil war reaches 3,538, with over 60,000 people killed overall.
20 January - Syrian refugees fleeing the violence from the Syrian civil war are gunned down by the Syrian Army while trying to cross the Jordanian border.
21 January - Syrian Civil War
- Russian authorities announce a plan to evacuate 100 Russian citizens from Syria by sending in two passenger planes to Beirut.
- A car bombing in Salamiyeh kills over 30 people.
22 January - Syrian Civil War
- The government of Jordan says that more than 12,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan in the past six days.
- The Russian government organizes an evacuation for some of its citizens by transporting them to Lebanon and then flying them to Russia.
25 January - Two car bombs explode in the Syrian controlled part of Golan Heights killing 8 people.
27 January - Reports claim that elite Syrian military forces shell the town of Darayya just southwest of Damascus.
29 January - At least 65 corpses are discovered in the Queiq River near Aleppo. All of them appear to have been executed with gunshots.
30 January - Syrian Civil War
- Israeli forces attack an arms convoy on the Lebanon–Syria border overnight destined from Syria to Hezbollah.
- Syrian sources claim that the true objective of the raid was a weapon research center northwest of Damascus and that two people were killed in the action.

February

3 February - In response to Israeli air strikes on Syria, Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says Israel's government is waging "state terrorism".
4 February - At least 20 people die in Aleppo, after an apartment complex is struck by a rocket belonging to the forces of Bashar Assad.
8 February - Over 110 people are killed nationwide by the Syrian army.
9 February - Syrian Civil War
- Clashes between government forces continue around Damascus and Homs, with heavy aerial bombardment by the Syrian Air Force being reported.
- President of Syria Bashar al-Assad reshuffles his cabinet, appointing seven new ministers in a move analysts describe as an attempt to stabilize the country's economy.
- Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi makes an official statement, extending an invitation to the opposition for dialogue aimed at achieving a political solution to the conflict.
11 February - An explosion in a vehicle at the Cilvegözü border gate kills 14 civilians (eleven Syrians and three Turks), and injures more than 25 others in Reyhanlı district of Hatay Province, Turkey. The gate is on the Turkish–Syrian border.
13 February - Rebels clash with the Syrian military at an army base protecting Aleppo's international airport. The opposition claims that 40 Syrian soldiers were killed in the fighting, as large parts of the base are overrun.
15 February - After intense fighting 40,000 people become displaced in the city of Shadadah, Hasakah, adding to the 3 million people already internally displaced in Syria.
21 February - At least 61 people are killed and more than 200 injured following a car bombing near Syria's Baath Party headquarters in Damascus. Three other bombings kill 22 people and injure 50 others in the suburb of Barzeh, most of them government soldiers. These are the deadliest attacks in the Syrian capital since the outbreak of the civil war.
22 February - Three missiles launched by the Syrian army crash into residential areas of Aleppo, killing at least 29 civilians and injuring 150 others.
24 February - French freelance photographer Olivier Voisin, who was wounded near Idlib in January 2013, dies in Antakya, Turkey, after surgery.
25 February - Syrian Civil War
- For the first time since the start of the Syrian civil war, President Bashar al-Assad's government offers to talk with rebels in hopes of a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
- The Syrian opposition agrees to attend an international summit in Rome, Italy, after foreign aid pledge.
28 February - The United States announces that it will provide $60 million of food and medical aid, but not weapons, to rebel fighters.

March

4 March - At least 40 Syrian soldiers are killed in ambush in Western Iraq.
6 March - Syrian Civil War
- Syrian rebels capture Ar-Raqqah, the first major city to be under rebel control in the Syrian civil war.
- British Foreign Secretary William Hague announces the UK will send armoured vehicles and body armour to opposition forces in Syria to help save lives.
- The Arab League grants the Syrian National Coalition the seat within its organization formerly occupied by the Syrian Republic.
- 20 United Nations peacekeepers are detained by around 30 armed fighters in the Golan Heights on the border between Syria and Israel.
9 March - Rebels free 21 United Nations peacekeepers who were held captive for four days.
11 March - The insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq claims responsibility for ambushing a convoy of Syrian Army soldiers on March 4.
12 March - Syrian Civil War
- Syrian Army forces kill 30 army deserters in an ambush on the Damascus International Airport road.
- The Syrian army launches intensive air strikes on Homs following the rebels' capture of the Baba Amr district.
13 March - Ahmad Shihadeh, a member of the European Union's delegation in Syria, is killed in a rocket attack in a Damascus suburb.
18 March - Syrian Civil War
- Fighter jets from the Syrian Air Force fire rockets into northern Lebanon with no casualties reported.
- The Syrian Opposition claims that the government of President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons in an attack on their forces in Aleppo.
21 March - Syrian Civil War
- At least 42 people are killed and 84 injured after a reported suicide bombing at a Damascus mosque. Senior pro-government Sunni cleric Mohammed al-Buti is amongst those killed.
- President of the Syrian National Coalition Moaz al-Khatib condemns the attack, while placing his suspicion on the Syrian government for orchestratring it. The Free Syrian Army denies involvement in the attack on the grounds that it doesn't target mosques.
21 March - Several BBC Twitter accounts are hacked including its Weather, Arabic and Radio Ulster feeds by a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army.
22 March - President of the United States Barack Obama visits Jordan and meets with King Abdullah II. He warns of extremist threat in Syria.
24 March - Israeli soldiers fire an anti-tank missile at a Syrian Army post after coming under fire for the second time in 12 hours in the Golan Heights area.
24 March - US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Iraq on an unannounced visit to press for greater co-operation over the conflict in Syria.
24 March - Syria's opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib resigns from the Syrian National Coalition after inconclusive talks with the European Union.
25 March - Syrian Civil War
- Rebel Free Syrian Army chief Colonel Riad al-Asaad is injured after a blast targets his car.
- Arab League officials say the Syrian opposition, the National Coalition, will represent the country in the upcoming summit in Doha, Qatar.
26 March - The United Nations prepares to move about half of its international staff in Syria out of the country as violence creeps closer to UN facilities.
26 March - The Arab League summit begins in Qatar, Doha, with the Syria conflict and possible talks between the Afghanistan government and the Taliban among the key issues.
28 March - Mortar fire hits Damascus University cafeteria section killing 15 students and injuring 7 others.
28 March - The Syrian opposition opens its first embassy in Qatar, a day after it was given Damascus's seat at the Arab League.
29 March - Iran, North Korea and Syria block adoption of a United Nations treaty that would regulate the international arms trade, a proposal which required agreement by all 193 UN member states.

April

1 April - Lebanese gunmen kidnap eight Syrians from the Alawites minority and demand a hostage exchange.
2 April - The United Nations General Assembly approves the first Arms Trade Treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar global trade in conventional arms with 154 votes in favor, three member states – Iran, North Korea and Syria – against the decision, and 23 abstentions.
7 April - Syrian Civil War
- An air strike on Aleppo by the Syrian Air Force kills 15 people, including nine children.
- Syrian Armed Forces fire OTR-21 Tochka missiles at Baraza region of Damascus.
7 April - United States Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Turkey, where he is to have talks addressing relations with Israel and the conflict in Syria.
8 April - A car bomb explodes in the center of the capital, Damascus, killing at least 15 people and wounding 53 others.
11 April - At least 57 people are killed by the Syrian Army in the towns of Sanamayn and Ghabaghib, Daraa Governorate.
11 April - The top foreign affairs officials of the G8 group of nations meet in London, where the Korean crisis, Syrian conflict and Iran's nuclear threats are expected to be major talking points.
13 April - Syrian Civil War
- Twenty civilians are killed in Saraqib, Idlib, after a government warplane bombs the city.
- The Times reports that evidence smuggled out of Syria indicates the use of chemical weapons in the ongoing conflict.
21 April - Locals and activists in Damascus report that the Syrian Army killed over 500 people in the suburb of Jdeit al-Fadel.
22 April - The European Union lifts an oil trade embargo it imposed on Syria during the early stages of the civil war to help the finances of the opposition.
23 April - Syrian Civil War
- An Israeli military intelligence analyst states that Syria has used chemical weapons repeatedly over the past month. He also criticizes the international community for not responding to the use of the weapons.
- Two Orthodox Christian bishops kidnapped by gunmen in a rebel-held area in northern Syria are released.
24 April - The 11th-century minaret of the Umayyad Great Mosque at the World Heritage Site of Aleppo is destroyed. Both warring parties blame each other.
25 April - The United States Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel claims that US intelligence has concluded "with some degree of varying confidence" that the Government of Syria has used sarin gas during the past two years in the civil war. The Israeli and British governments made similar statements.
26 April - The White House reports that the United States may have to use military action against Syria.
27 April - The Free Syrian Army accuses the government of Iraq of conducting an airstrike against its forces in Deir ez-Zor.
28 April - Syrian rebels capture three military airbases in the north.
29 April - Syrian state TV reports that the Prime Minister Wael Nader Al-Halqi escaped an assassination attempt in the western Damascus suburb of Mazzeh when a bomb explodes near his convoy.
30 April - Syrian Civil War
- A bomb explodes in the center of the capital, Damascus, killing at least 13 people.
- A purported chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian army kills at least 2 people in Saraqib, Idlib.

May

2 May - Up to 100 people are killed in a raid of al-Bayda, Baniyas by the Syrian Army.
3 May - Israeli warplanes bomb a Syrian weapons facility in an overnight attack.
4 May - Syrian Civil War
- Israeli forces, in a second attack in as many days, bomb a weapons shipment of sophisticated missiles suspected as being transported from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
- Activists claim that 77 people are massacred in Baniyas by government forces; the government claims it was fighting against "terrorist groups."
5 May - Syrian Civil War
- Israeli aircraft hit at least six targets near Damascus, targeting Iranian-made Fateh-110 missile shipments en route to Hezbollah.
- Syria's foreign ministry accuses Israel of helping and working with the Syrian rebels to coordinate airstrikes.
6 May - Syrian Civil War
- Rebels shoot down a Syrian Military helicopter in Deir ez-Zor Governorate killing all eight soldiers on board.
- A UN official on a Swiss television station says the UN has "concrete" suspicions that the rebels have used Sarin gas. The UN later released a statement in response stressing that it has not reached any official conclusions, and has yet to have acquired proof that either side used chemical weapons.

Deaths

Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane
November 17 - Abdul Qader Saleh, commander of Al-Tawhid Brigade

2013 in Syria

Incumbents

Events

January

February

March

April

May

Deaths

See also