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In recent months, al-Assad’s forces, supported by Russian air power, have regained a lot of territory from West-backed rebels and militants, mainly Islamic State, in different parts of Syria.
Al-Assad became Syria's president in 2000 following the death of his father Hafez, who had led the country for almost 30 years.
Syria's crisis began with peaceful anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.
The conflict soon spiralled into a multi-sided civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced about half of Syria's pre-war population of 22 million.
More than 494,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, reported this week.
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Al-Assad became Syria's president in 2000 following the death of his father Hafez, who had led the country for almost 30 years.
Syria's crisis began with peaceful anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.
The conflict soon spiralled into a multi-sided civil war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and displaced about half of Syria's pre-war population of 22 million.
More than 494,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, reported this week.
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