TODAY MARKS THE three year anniversary of the Syrian conflict.

The bloody civil war that has raged for the past three years began on Saturday 15 March 2011, when pro-democracy protests were staged in the capital Damascus.

Crowds demanded the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, denouncing repressive measures implemented by the regime in the wake of the Arab Spring protest movement, which had already seen the crumbling of power structures in Tunisia and Egypt.

Protesters gathered in hope, calling for governmental and economic reform.

By April, the army had been deployed to crush dissent. Soldiers opened fired on demonstrators, foreign journalists were banned from the country and internet services were shut down.

Permanent scars

According the United Nations, the death toll today has surpassed 130,000, with a further 130,000 people unaccounted for – missing or detained. Between 4.5 – 5.1 million people have been internally displaced and 3 million have fled to neighbouring countries. Horrifyingly, chemical weapons have been used on at least five occasions against ordinary men, women and children.

Life was not always this way for the Syrian people. Just three short years ago, the country was viewed as one of the more progressive, stable, and beautiful of the region – a melting pot of religions and ethnicities with a rich cultural history.

Now it is a country permanently battle-scarred, both physically and psychologically, and much of Syria’s infrastructure and heritage is gone forever.

Syria before and since the outbreak war …

Uploaded OfficielFirat

Over the past three years, appalling images have poured out of Syria. And they’re still coming.