Spillover of the Syrian Civil War

The Spillover of the Syrian Civil War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Since the first small protests during the Arab Spring, the increasingly violent Syrian Civil War has been both a proxy for the major Arab powers and Iran and a potential launching point for a wider regional war. Fears of the latter were realized when the ISIS, a Sunni Muslim militant group and former al-Qaeda affiliate, established itself in Syria in 2012 and by mid-2014 had combined the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi insurgency into a single conflict.

Iran
Iran, through its proxies, mainly Hezbollah, has been an active participant in both the Syrian and the Iraqi civil wars. On 19 June 2014, ISIS commandos attempted a raid on an Iranian border post near the Iranian city of Qasre Shirin, killing several on both sides.

Iraq
For much of 2012, the Iraqi government had turned a blind eye to the Sunni and Salafist militias crossing the border into Syria. This toleration ended when Salafist militias connected to al-Qaeda ambushed a convoy filled with unarmed Syrian soldiers at Akashat on the Syrian side of the border. This led to greater fighting throughout the country, Operation al-Shabah in May 2013 in which the Iraqi Army failed to wipe these militias out and the consolidation of several of them with ISIS. Anbar Province became a battle zone and an airstrike in April 2014 was of little use, because in June 2014 ISIS launched an offensive in northern Iraq, taking large swaths of the country and threatening Baghdad itself. In response, Iran reportedly deployed its Quds force in Iraq, thus turning the conflict into a full-scale war.

Lebanon
The Syrian Civil War has led to incidents of sectarian violence in northern Lebanon between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government, and armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli. Fighting between rebels and government forces has spilled into Lebanon on several occasions. The Syrian Air Force has conducted air strikes on targets in Lebanon, while rebels have launched rockets on Hezbollah targets. Fighting between supporters of the Sunni sheikh Ahmed Al-Assir, who is against Hezbollah's involvement in Syria, and the Lebanese army has killed at least 15 of its soldiers.

Lebanese-Syrian border
At the beginning of summer 2012, two Hezbollah fighters were killed in a clash with Syrian rebels who were on Lebanese territory. On 17 September, Syrian Ground-attack aircraft fired three missiles 500 m over the border into Lebanese territory near Arsal. It was suggested that the jets were chasing rebels in the vicinity. The attack prompted Lebanese president Michel Sleiman to launch an investigation, whilst not publicly blaming Syria for the incident.

On 22 September, a group of armed members of the Free Syrian Army attacked a border post near Arsal. This was reported to be the second incursion within a week. The group were chased off into the hills by the Lebanese Army, who detained and later released some rebels due to pressure from dignified locals. Michel Sleiman praised the actions taken by the military as maintaining Lebanon's position being "neutral from the conflicts of others". He called on border residents to "stand beside their army and assist its members." Syria has repeatedly called for an intensified crackdown on rebels that it claims are hiding in Lebanese border towns.

On 11 October 2012, four shells fired by the Syrian military hit Masharih al-Qaa, where previous shelling incidents have caused fatalities. Lebanon's position of ignoring the attacks and dissociating itself from the conflict remained unchanged. In October 2012 Hassan Nasrallah denied Hezbollah members were fighting alongside the Syrian army, but that Lebanese in Syria were only protecting Lebanese inhabited villages from the Free Syrian Army.

In August 2014, the Syrian air force bombed the Lebanese side of the border.

Lebanon vs. ISIS
Starting in June 2014, Hezbollah began battling with ISIS' allies along the Lebanese border, crossing into Lebanon several times and threatening to engulf that unfortunate country into full-scale war.

From 2–5 August 2014, the Lebanese Army clashed with Syrian gunmen in the town of Arsal, which left over a hundred soldiers on both sides dead.

On 21 August, the al-Nusra Front invaded Lebanon near Arsal and the Bekaa Valley town of Al-Fakiha, following a battle between them and Hezbullah seven Hezbollah fighters and 32 Syrian rebels died in clashes around the Syrian village of Nahleh, just over the border from Arsal.

Dozens of hostages were taken back to Syria during the abovementioned battle of Arsal. After fruitless negotiations, the Lebanese cabinet voted to authorize the army to invade Syria to free them on 4 September 2014, something that they have yet to do. There was another attempted invasion of Lebanon by a joint ISIS-Nusra force in early October, but that was beaten back by Hezbullah.

Turkey
With a thousand mile border with Syria and Iraq, There have been a number of incidents involving this nation with various factions in the Civil Wars south of the border.

Turkey vs Syria
Openly supporting the overthrow of Bashir al-Assad Turkey permitted the establishment of a "jihadist highway" where rebels of all stripes, including ISIS, were permitted to cross both supplies and personnel South of the border.

Turkey and ISIS
Turkey had been allegedly supporting ISIS throughout its many incarnations as a lesser evil against the Assad regime. This to some extent began to change with the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings] an a retalitatory airstrike in January of 2014. ISIS, shook this off, and began it's notorious conquest of northern Iraq, followed by consolidation of territories in Northern Syria. In the summer of 2014 it began taking over the border area with Turkey, leading to hundreds of thousands of refugees coming north along the border, riots, the use of teargas, rubber bullets,and live ammunition, as well the end of the truce with the PKK.

A vote to authorize military action was passed by the Turkish parliament on October 2nd. However this had no follow through and further rioting ensued through much of Turkey's cities as The government demanded more and more conditions to join in the war. The riots intensified and several dozen protesters have been killed.

Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
There have been clashes with Israeli soldiers on the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights, leading to fears of a further Israeli invasion of Syria or a Hezbollah invasion of Israel from there. In late 2012, ceasefire line tensions between Israel and Syria escalated. On 25 September 2012, several mortar shells landed in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, landing in an open area adjacent to the ceasefire line fence. Overall, throughout October and early November, several Syrian mortar and light artillery shells hit the Golan Heights. One mortar round may have been responsible for a brushfire that erupted in the area. On 3 November, three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized zone in the central Golan Heights as a number of mortar shells were fired into the area. On 5 November, an Israeli army jeep was damaged by Syrian army gunfire as it patrolled the ceasefire line. On 11 November, after a Syrian 120mm mortar round hit the eastern Golan Heights, the Israeli army responded by firing an electro-optic anti-tank missile in the direction of a Syrian mortar crew, but they deliberately missed them, intending it as a warning shot. On 12 November, another Syrian mortar shell struck the Golan Heights, and Israeli tanks deployed along the ceasefire line responded by targeting two Syrian mortar launchers. A direct hit was confirmed. A shell fired from Syria, where insurgents and government troops are locked in fierce fighting, exploded in the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights plateau on Sunday, 14 July 2013.

On November 12, 2012, the Syrian army fired more motor shells towards the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. In response an Israeli tank fired a shell on the motor crew and injured several Syrian soldiers.

On March 2014 an Israeli patrol jeep landed on an explosive cargo near majdal shams during a daily patrol. In response the IDF fired 155mm artillery shells on a Syrian outpost and later that day the Israeli air force bombed more Syrian settlements. This had happened a few days after another similar clash near the border of Lebanon that had also been responded in artillery and tanks fire by Israel, Israel blamed Hezbollah for both incidents.

In late August, militants of unknown origin began shelling the Golan from Syria and fierce fighting along the Syrian/Golan front witnessed gunfire and rockets piercing through the de facto border, sparking Israeli involvement. The UN-only border crossing was captured by Jihadi troops, injuring two Israeli officers with mislead shootings. On September 23, 2014, an errant Syrian air force jet strayed over the Golan Heights, and was shot down by Israeli forces, the first time this has happened since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Jordan
There have been a few incidents. Jordan hosts nearly 600,000 registered Syrian refugees—although Jordanian officials say the real number is far higher. ISIS has threatened to invade Jordan once it takes Baghdad.

On 22 October 2012, a Jordanian soldier died in a gunfight between Jordanian troops and Islamic militants attempting to cross the border into Syria. Sameeh Maaytah, the Information Minister of Jordan, said the soldier was the first member of the Jordanian military to be killed in clashes connected to the civil war in Syria.

In April 2014, the Jordanian Air Force launched an airstrike on soldiers trying to illegally cross the border from Syria. Since then, attempted militant infiltration into Jordan has become commonplace

Some of this was due to the return of Jordanian citizens who, as Jihadists, went to fight in Syria for a while and decided to go home for various reasons. According to reports, there are over 2000 Jordanian Jihadis fighting in Syria. Over a hundred have been arrested and charged for crossing the border to fight, which is illegal in Jordan.

Heavy shelling aimed at Daraa in Syria has accidentally hit the Jordanian side of the border, causing light damage.

Jordan vs. ISIS
From the moment of the June Blitzkrieg in Iraq, the ISIS Leadership has been threatening to overthrow the monarchy of Jordan. As mentioned above, there have been numerous attempts by Jihadists to cross the border from Iraq and Syria that have been routinely thwarted. However, this low level conflict was greatly enlarged when the Jordanian air force joined in the US-led bombing of ISIS and Al Qaeda command and control sites in Syria. Jihadist troops have retaliated by firing into Jordan and there has been increased sniping at the border.

Kurdish Riots in Western Europe
As Turkish inaction during the fall of Kobanē became more evident, thousands of Kurds staged protests, occupying parts of the European parliament and all of the Dutch one.