2014 in Syria

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See also:	Other events of 2014 List of years in Syria

The following lists events that happened in 2014 in Syria.

Incumbents

• President: Bashar al-Assad
• Prime Minister: Wael Nader al-Halqi

Events

For events related to the Civil War, see Timeline of the Syrian Civil War (January–July 2014) and Timeline of the Syrian Civil War (August–December 2014)

January

• January 5 - A sniper kills a man and six people are wounded in clashes between districts in Tripoli, Lebanon, that support rival sides in neighboring Syria's civil war.^[1]
• January 7 - Both the Syrian opposition and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant mass execute dozens of their combatant prisoners.^[2]
• January 9 - Syrian Civil War
  • A car bomb kills 18 people, including women and children, in central Hama province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights organization.^[3][4]
  • Islamic extremist groups in Syria with ties to al-Qaeda try to identify, recruit and train Americans and other Westerners who have traveled there to get them to carry out attacks when they return home.^[5]
• January 11 - 500 people are killed in inter-factional fighting between an alliance of secular rebels and moderate Islamists against radical Islamists.^[6]
• January 12 - Syrian State TV claims that a rebel mortar attack kills 19 people in the government-controlled Ghouta and Karm al shami areas of the city of Homs.^[7]
• January 14 - 46 Palestinians and Syrian residents in the Yarmouk Camp have died of starvation and lack of medical care, since October, from a Syrian army enforced blockade.^[8]
• January 16 - A suicide bomber kills 4 people and injures 26 in the Lebanese town of Hermel, a Hezbollah stronghold near the Syrian border.^[9]
• January 17 - A rocket fired from Syria into the Lebanese border town of Arsal kills seven people and wounds 15.^[10]
• January 20 - Two car bombs hit a rebel-held post on the Syrian border with Turkey, killing at least 16 people amidst continuing fighting between Turkey-supported rebels and Saudi-supported rebels.^[11]

February

• February 6 - Fighting between Syrian rebels and government forces rages around the Aleppo Central Prison in the war-torn city of Aleppo, but it is unclear whether rebels control all or part of the facility.
• February 7 - Civilians are evacuated from a rebel-held area of the Syrian city of Homs after more than 18 months under a government blockade.
• February 9 - Hundreds of civilians are evacuated from Homs, as a tense truce between rebel and government forces is maintained.
• February 12 - Syrian Civil War
  • The Syrian Army and their Lebanese ally Hezbollah begin an assault to retake the strategic border town Yabrud from the Syrian rebels.
  • Russia says it will veto a U.N. resolution on humanitarian aid access in Syria, claiming that the draft is an effort to prepare for military strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's government.
• February 14 - From 18 to 43 people including civilians are killed and dozens wounded by a car bomb outside a mosque in the southern Syrian village of al-Yadouda according to local reports.
• February 16 - Syrian Civil War
  • Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, calls on other sectarian forces in the Arab world to withdraw from Syria, saying that if they did so, Hezbollah would also "not remain in Syria either."
  • A Syrian child is transferred to an Israeli hospital near Tiberias for emergency treatment after being injured during clashes in Syria, near the Israeli border, between rebels and Syrian Army.
• February 23 - Seven people are killed and 50 wounded in a car bombing near a field hospital in northern Syria, close to the border with Turkey.
• February 24 - Israeli Air Force planes reportedly bomb a weapons shipment of SS-21 missiles destined for Hezbollah near a Hezbollah stronghold on the Lebanon-Syria border.
• February 26 - Syrian army and Hezbollah troops kill over 70 rebel fighters in an ambush in the outskirts of Damascus.
• February 28 - Syrian air strikes near the Lebanese border town of Arsal killed three people.

March

• March 18 - The United States expels all Syrian diplomats and closes the Syrian embassy in Washington D.C..
• March 19 - The Israeli Air Force launches several air strikes on Syrian military sites, killing 1 Syrian soldier and wounding 7 others, in retaliation for a bombing that wounded four of its troops in the Golan Heights.
• March 20 - Syrian troops capture the 1,000-year-old Krak des Chevaliers crusader castle from rebels after laying siege to the fortress since January.
• March 21 - Clashes erupt in Tripoli, Lebanon, between Syrian government supporters and detractors, leaving 3 dead.
• March 23 - Turkish F-16s shoot down a Syrian military aircraft for purportedly violating Turkish airspace. A Syrian Arab Republic spokesman denies this claim and says the aircraft was in Syrian airspace when it was shot down.
• March 29 - A suicide bomber kills three soldiers at a Lebanese army checkpoint in the border town of Arsal close to the Syrian border.

April

• April 3 - Mortar fire kills at least six people in a Damascus suburb.
• April 6 - Mortar fire kills two people near the Damascus Opera House.
• April 9 - 25 people are killed in car bombings in the central city of Homs.
• April 10 - 88 civilians are killed in Aleppo by barrel bombs dropped from Syrian government warplanes.
• April 12 - Chemical weapons are used again in Syria, this time on the town of Kafr Zita, Hama.
• April 14 - Syrian Civil War
  • Syria's political opposition urges US action in response to the Syrian government's barrel bombing campaign in the city of Aleppo.
  • Syrian government troops recapture the towns of Al-Sarkha and Ma'loula near the Syria-Lebanon border.
• April 16 - Syrian Civil War
  • More chemical attacks are reported, this time in the Damascus suburbs.
  • Jordanian warplanes strike a convoy of vehicles as they were trying to enter Jordan from Syria.
• April 18 - The death toll of children in the entire Syrian Civil War reaches nearly 15,000.
• April 21 - Syrian Air Force air strikes in Aleppo, killing dozens of people; 14 others are killed by barrel bombing in the neighborhood of Baeedeen.

April 21 Syria sets free elections and President Bashar al-Assad wins with almost no opposition. Rebels and foreign terrorists are unhappy with the results and call it "parody of democracy", however most oppositions groups do not support democracy anyway. Islamists are in favour of Sharia Law according to the holy Qur'an.

• - April 23 One of the most vicious opposition force the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat al-Nusra committed war crimes and crimes against humanity when a video surfaced in April 2014 with Nusra Islamist Terrorist fighters are parading over dozens of dead bodies of Syrian Arab Army soldiers that died most likely last night as they filmed the video due to an imminent chemical attack where Nusra terrorists used a nerve gas that resulted in the deaths of these Syrian soldiers seen on the video. Many of them had blue face with clear signs of pain and most of them had their gas masks in their hands but apparently had no time enough to place the masks on. Jabhat al-Nusra claimed responsibility for the attack in the video front of their black Jihadists flag. International speculations started soon after about who supported deadly nerve agent to terrorists. USA promptly denied any responsibility. The video is now widely available online as for May 2015.
• -April 27 - Iraqi helicopters destroy a convoy of ISIL fuel tankers inside Syrian territory.
• April 29 - At least 37 people are killed and 85 others are injured in multiple explosions in Homs.
• April 30 - The Local Coordination Committees of Syria announces that 25 children were killed on Wednesday when Syrian army forces dropped barrel bombs on an elementary school.

May

• May 2 - A 24-hour ceasefire deal is reached in Homs allowing rebels to withdraw from their last stronghold in the central city.
• May 7 - Rebels withdraw from the besieged city of Homs in accordance with the U.N.-brokered deal between them and the Syrian government.
• May 8 - A large explosion levels the Carlton Hotel in Aleppo which was used as a military base by the Army of Syria as well as several other buildings.
• May 23 - Syrian TV reports that 39 people have been killed and 205 injured as a result of a mortar attack on a pro-Assad rally.
• May 23 - Russia and China veto a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have asked the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes in Syria.
• May 25 - 3 bombs detonate in Homs, killing 9 people and injuring another 20.
• May 27 - Eleven people, including six members of a United Nations Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons fact finding mission, are attacked near Hama.
• May 30 - United States State Department makes its first confirmation that a U.S. citizen has been "involved" in a suicide bombing as part of the Syrian Civil War.

June

• June 3 - Syria presidential election takes place in government-controlled areas, amidst an opposition boycott. While the West denounces the election as rigged and "meaningless", delegations from Assad's main supporters, including Russia, Iran and Venezuela, praise the election as transparent and free.^[12]
• June 4 - The Syrian government announces Assad was re-elected, claiming that Assad had won with 88.7% of the vote and a turnout of 73.47% of eligible voters.^[12]
• June 9 - The Syrian government declares a general amnesty for all citizens;^[13] Assad would later fail to follow through and release any political prisoners.^[14]
• June 18 - Syrian Civil War
  • The OPCW releases a preliminary report indicating more chemical weapons have been used since the August 2013 attacks, confirming France's suspicions that the Syrian government has still been using chlorine gas attacks.^[15]
• June 23 - The final stockpile of "declared" chemical weapons is shipped out of the country.^[16]
• June 25 - The Syrian Air Force bombs Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant-held towns in Iraq, killing at least 57 civilians.^[17]

July

• July 16 - Bashar Assad is sworn in to serve his third seven-year term as President of Syria.^[18]

August

• August 4 - The Lebanese Army states that 14 soldiers have been killed and 22 are missing after alleged clashes with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters on the Syrian border.^[19]
• August 19 - American journalist James Wright Foley, kidnapped in 2012, has reportedly been beheaded by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.^[20]
• August 21 - The Syrian opposition accuses the Syrian army of launching a chemical attack on the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, killing at least six civilians.^[21]
• August 22 - The United Nations estimates that the death toll in Syria has doubled to at least 191,000 in the past year.^[22]
• August 27 - Syrian Civil War
  • The UN Human Rights Council issues a report accusing both IS militants and Syrian government forces of committing war crimes in Syria.^[23]
• August 28 - Syrian Civil War
  • An unidentified rebel group captures 43 Fijiian peacekeepers on the Golan Heights.^[24]
• August 29 - Syrian Civil War
  • The United Nations estimates that three million Syrians live as refugees overseas while another 6.5 million are displaced within Syria, and states that "almost half of all Syrians have now been forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives".^[25]

September

• September 2 - ISIL releases an Internet video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff.^[26]
• September 10 - In a televised address to the nation, The President of the United States Barack Obama outlines a broad campaign against ISIL. For Syria, the strategy involves airstrikes against ISIL coupled with arming and training Syrian rebels.^[27]
• September 23 - The al-Nusra Front claims that its leader Abu Yousef al-Turki was killed in the air strikes.^[28]
• September 23 - Israel shoots down a Syrian Air Force Sukhoi Su-24 that had allegedly infiltrated its air space.^[29]
• September 25 - More than 20 Syrian rebel groups sign an agreement to unite in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and President Bashar al-Assad's forces.^[30]

October–December

See Timeline of the Syrian Civil War (August–December 2014)

References

1. "Sniper fire kills one as clashes flare in Lebanon's Tripoli". 5 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
2. "Syria crisis: Rebel groups 'execute rivals'". 7 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
3. "Car bomb blast in Syria; deaths reported". 9 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
4. "Car bomb kills 18 in Syria's Hama province". 9 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
5. "Syria Militants Said to Recruit Visiting Americans to Attack U.S.". 9 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
6. "Syria conflict: Rebel clashes 'leaves almost 500 dead'". 11 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
7. "Syrian mortar attack kills at least 19". 13 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
8. "Syria conflict: dozens die of starvation in besieged Damascus refugee camp". 15 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
9. "Suicide car bomb kills three in Hezbollah stronghold near Syria". 16 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
10. "Rocket fired from Syria kills seven in Lebanese border town". 17 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
11. "Sixteen killed by twin bombs at Syria-Turkey border post". 20 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
12. "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wins third term - BBC News". BBC News. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
13. Barnard, Anne (9 June 2014). "President Bashar al-Assad of Syria Declares ‘General Amnesty’ for Prisoners". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
14. Samaan, Maher; Barnard, Anne (26 July 2015). "Assad, in Rare Admission, Says Syria’s Army Lacks Manpower". The New York Times.
15. "Syria probably used chlorine gas in attacks this year, weapons inspectors say". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
16. "Watchdog: Last 'declared' chemical weapons leave Syria - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
17. "Syrian warplanes reportedly strike in Iraq, killing 57 - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
18. Saad, Hwaida; Cowell, Alan (16 July 2014). "Assad Begins a Third Term in Syria, Vowing to Look After Its People". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
19. Saad, Hwaida; Gladstone, Rick (4 August 2014). "Border Fighting Intensifies Between ISIS and Lebanon". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
20. "ISIS beheading U.S. journalist James Foley, posts video - CNN.com". CNN. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
21. "Syrian regime launchs chemical attack against Jobar in Damascus: opposition - ARA News". ARA News. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
22. "Syria death toll 'more than 191,000' - BBC News". BBC News. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
23. "Syria and Isis committing war crimes, says UN". The Guardian. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
24. "Fiji says 43 soldiers captured in Golan Heights". USA TODAY. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
25. Cumming-bruce, Nick (29 August 2014). "Syrian Refugees Surpass 3 Million, U.N. Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
26. Raf Sanchez (September 2, 2014). "Steven Sotloff 'beheaded by Islamic State' – latest". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved April 22, 2016.
27. CNN, By Tom Cohen. "Obama ISIS strategy: Airstrikes will include Syria - CNNPolitics.com". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
28. "'The Turk' is dead: Al Qaeda-linked terror group says leader died in Syria airstrikes". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
29. "Israel says it shot down Syrian jet over Golan Heights - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
30. "Syrian rebel groups unite to fight ISIS". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2016.