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The U.S. imposes further sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his 19-year-old son Hafez, and warns that it will also sanction anyone who engages with the government in Damascus. Kelly Craft, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says the sanctions are not intended to harm civilians and that they do not target humanitarian aid.
2020-07-29

Russia begins to withdraw its forces from Syria, with its aircraft carrier battle group being the first to leave. The United Nations says the ceasefire is "largely holding".
2017-01-6

Dozens of American diplomats send a memo, via the State Department’s "dissent channel", critical of U.S. policy in Syria. The memo was signed by 51 mid- to high-level State Department officers involved with advising on Syrian policy, and calls for airstrikes against President Bashar al-Assad's government to stop its persistent violations of the United Nations-sponsored February ceasefire.
2016-06-16

The delegation of the government of Syria rules out starting any direct talks with the opposition delegation as U.N. sponsored peace talks enter a third day in Geneva.
2016-03-16

The United Nations estimates that three million Syrians live as refugees overseas while another 6.5 million are displaced within Syria.
2014-08-29

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon questions the legality of US plans to strike Syria without UN backing, saying that the use of force is only legal when it is in self-defence or with Security Council authorization.
2013-09-3

A team of twenty UN weapons inspectors arrives in the capital, Damascus, to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict.
2013-08-18

The United Nations says the death toll from the conflict could be more than 60,000 people.
2013-01-2

The United Nations suspends operations in Syria and withdraws non-essential staff as the Syrian civil war worsens.
2012-12-3

A car bomb attack by unknown people near a Palestinian refugee camp in the Damascene suburb of Sbeineh ("Sabina") kills at least 15 people. AFP says rebels claim the capture of the village of Harem near Idlib on the Turkish border, after a 3-day siege; the government still keeps air supremacy. U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi says it is both conflict parties' duty to try to reach peace.
2012-09-2