page_title: Timeline of the Syrian Civil War
section_title: ISIL siege of Deir ez-Zor broken; CIA program halted; Russian forces permanent (July 2017–Dec. 2017)
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the Syrian Civil War / SDF advances; Turkish military intervention in northern Syria: Euphrates Shield (August 2016 – January 2017) / ISIL siege of Deir ez-Zor broken; CIA program halted; Russian forces permanent (July 2017–Dec. 2017)
caption_attribution_description: English: Thousands of tons of Iranian aid to the people of Deir ez-Zor arrived in Damascus. فارسی: محموله هزار تنی کمک‌ های ملت ایران برای مردم دیرالزور به دمشق رسید English: وصل ألف الأطنان من مساعدات شعب الإيرانية لشعبدير الزور إلى دمشق
context_page_description: This is a broad timeline of the course of major events of the Syrian Civil War. It only includes major territorial changes and attacks and does not include every event.
  The uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad gradually turned into a full-scale civil war, with two significant milestones being the initial March 2011 Arab Spring protests and the 18 July 2011 declaration by the International Committee of the Red Cross that the fighting had gradually become so widespread that the situation should be regarded as a civil war.
  In response to Operation Peace Spring, and the US withdrawal of forces, Russia began some efforts at mediation, and arranged for negotiations and the first-ever accordance between the Syrian government in Damascus and the Kurdish-led SDF. Russia also negotiated an agreement to form the Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone, which made new changes to the positions of Syrian, Turkish and SDF forces.
  There remain millions of Syrian refugees who are displaced into refugee camps across the region, under severe conditions. Conflict continues between the Syrian government and various rebel groups.
context_section_description: On 7 July 2017, the U.S., Russia, and Jordan agreed to a ceasefire in part of southwestern Syria, Russia giving assurances that Assad would abide by the agreement. On 19 July it was reported that the U.S. had decided to halt the CIA program to equip and train anti-Ba'athist government rebel groups, a move sought by Russia.
  On 5 September the Ba'athist government's Central Syria offensive culminated in the breaking of the three-year ISIL siege of Deir ez-Zor, with active participation of Russian air force and navy. This was followed shortly thereafter by the lifting of the siege of the city's airport.
  On 17 October, after over four months of fierce fighting and the U.S.-led coalition's bombardment, the Kurdish-dominated SDF announced they had established full control of the city of Raqqa in northern Syria. At the end of October, the Ba'athist government of Syria said that it still considered Raqqa to be an occupied city that can ″only be considered liberated when the Syrian Arab Army enter[ed] it.″
  By mid-November the Ba'athist government forces and allied militia established full control over Deir ez-Zor and captured the town of Abu Kamal in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq and Iraq's town of al-Qaim, which was concurrently captured from ISIL by the Iraqi government.
  On 6 December Russia declared Syria to have been "completely liberated" from ISIL; on 11 December President Putin visited the Russian base in Syria, where he announced that he had ordered the partial withdrawal of the forces deployed to Syria. On 26 December, Russian defence minister Sergey Shoigu said that Russia had set about "forming a permanent grouping" at its naval facility at Tartus and Hmeymim airbase. Two days later, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia believed that the U.S. forces must leave Syrian territory completely once remnants of the terrorists were completely eliminated.
caption: Iranian convoy delivering aid to Deir ez-Zor in September 2017
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