Timeline of the Syrian Civil War (August 2014–present)

The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from August 2014 to present. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.

7 August
Rebel militants withdrew from the Lebanese town of Arsal after a ceasefire with the Lebanese army.

8 August
ISIS forces have captured two towns Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh and several villages north of Aleppo, after battles with other rebel groups.

18 August
By mid-August 2014, ISIS was the most successful group in Syria, controlling the main areas of Syrian oil and gas fields.

24 August
ISIS forces have captured the Tabqa airbase from the Syrian military.

26 August
Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front retook the Syria border crossing with Israel-occupied Golan at Quneitra, with shells and dropping across the border. An IDF officer was wounded and Israel shelled two Syrian bases.

Syrian airstrikes reportedly hit an area near the embattled Beqaa town of Arsal.

27 August
An artillery shell fired from the Syrian Army from Qunetira injured an Israeli army officer. Rebel forces captured the Syrian side of the Quneitra Israel-Syria border pass after heavy fighting.

28 August
Syrian rebels captured the Syrian-Israeli border crossing. Syrian fighter jets launched a precise attack on an IS HQ in the city of Mohasan, during a meeting between military leaders and sharia judges. The attack resulted in the death of most leaders inside while others were wounded. Another airstrike occurred against an IS camp near Baath Dam, killing and wounding dozens of insurgents. According to SOHR, ISIS executed 160 Syrian soldiers between 27 and 28 August.

1 September
The Syrian Army began shelling al-Nusra Front positions in the Qunetira border post. On 2 September, The Islamic State executed Steven Sotloff. On 3 September, the Syrian Army killed Malek al Tall a senior al-Nusra commander in the Qalamoun region in Syria. He was responsible for the kidnapping of several Christian nuns in Syria earlier in the year.

Also, ISIS launched an attempt to capture the Deir ez-Zor military airport, but the attempt was repelled while the army launched airstrikes on ISIS positions. ISIS lost a total of at least 47 fighters. On 5 September the Syrian Air Force killed 18 IS fighters during airstrikes on the city of Raqqah.

The Islamic State executed a Lebanese soldier in the town of Arsal. Also, the Syrian Air Force carried out several airstrikes in Raqqah targeting an Islamic court, and a training camp. The Syrian Air Force also targeted a bakery killing dozens of civilians.

9 September
Syrian Army units retreated from the Khan al Hallabat area, after rebels advanced there. At the same time, rebels captured Tell al-Mal, which connects the Quneitra and Daraa provinces. Rebels also captured Al-Mal, al-Taiha, Aqraba and the border village of Kafar Nasig east of the hill. At this point, according to the SOHR, rebels controlled about 70% of the Quneitra Governorate.

11 September
President Barack Obama authorized US airstrikes against IS inside Syria. On 12 September, the Syrian Army re-took control of the town of Halfaya in the Hama Province after expelling al-Nusra fighters from the town.

14 September
David Haines was executed by Islamic State. Also, the Free Syrian Army announced that they would not be joining the coalition to fight IS without a guarantee that the US is committed to the regime's overthrow.

15 September
The Syrian Army and Syrian Special Forces destroyed a bridge over the Euphrates river used by Islamic State. A number of IS fighters were killed during the operation.

18 September
IS fighters seized around 21 villages in Northern Syria from Kurdish fighters. The villages were located near Ayn-Al-Arab (Kobani).

22 September
Bombing raids by an American-led International Coalition (Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) targeted ISIS and Al Qaeda's Khorasan franchise, escalating the war to a new level. The airstrikes in Aleppo on the Khorasan group killed at least 50 militants who were mostly not Syrian and also killing a few women and children.

By 22 September, Islamic State had taken around 100 villages from Kurdish fighters in Kobani and they were besieging the city of Kobani.

24 September
Coalition aircraft began targeting oil installations controlled by the Islamic State, mostly located in Al Hasakah, Abu Kamail and Deir el-Zour.

25 September
The Syrian army retook control of the village of Adra, located near Damascus. In Deir-Ezzur, the Syrian republican guard killed over 80 Islamic State fighters in the Al-Haweeqa area. IS was also withdrawing from the Tabqa airbase in Raqqa after being hit by several airstrikes from coalition jets as well as the Syrian air force.

26–27 September
ISIL resumed its siege of Kobani with a full scale assault from the west, east and south of the city. US-led coalition air strikes targeting Islamic State fighters besieging Kobani were reported on 27 September 2014. An IS building and two "armed vehicles" were destroyed at the Kobani border crossing, according to the Pentago

29 September
With more errant shells landing on Turkish territory, the Parliament in Ankara begins debating a possible invasion, while the Army begins massing ordinance on the border with Syria.

30 September
Following American airstrikes, Kurdish Peshmerga take a vital border crossing at Rabia. ISIS suffers damaged equipment and delayed advances due to American air superiority, buying the Kurds in northern part of Syria time to recover.

3 October
The Syrian army started an offensive on areas north of Aleppo. According to the Syrian state news agency, the Syrian army captured a few villages north of Aleppo, including the city of Handarat. It was later reported that rebel forces recaptured Handaraat.

6 October
Islamic State fighters advanced in the Kurdish town of Kobani with heavy fighting inside the city. It is unclear if some parts of the city are captured, but ISIS fighters planted their flags on some buildings inside the city.

Opposition fighters seize Al Harra hill, south of Damascus, after fighting with Assad forces, seizing large quantity of arms and ammunition.

10 October
ISIS push to capture the town of Kobani. The town has served as the headquarters of the Kurdish resistance. Reports say ISIS controls nearly 40% of the city. Kurdish leaders requested foreign intervention in an attempt to repel the assault on the town. 12,000 civilians are reported trapped in the city. The Syrian delegate to the UN requested foreign aid, particularly from Turkey, to evacuate the citizens, who will likely face massacre in the event of an ISIS takeover.

11 October
The Syrian army continues its offensive in Damascus and on 8 October captured the town of Al-Rayhan near Duma, and on 11 October Ayn Tarma, a decisive blow to the already exhausted Jaysh Al-Islam fighters.

12 October
Despite the capture of their headquarters in Kobane, Kurdish fighters continue a fierce resistance. Coalition airstrikes continue to pound the area, but ISIS is unrelenting in their attempts to capture the city.

Meanwhile, in the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, ISIS clashed with the Syrian army.

18 October
After heavy fighting inside the city of Kobane, Kurdish fighters with support of coalition airstrikes managed to push back IS fighters from most of the city. In the meantime, the Syrian Army continued its offensive north of Aleppo, capturing a glass factory, a cement plant, and the village of Al-Jubeileh near the Aleppo Central Prison. The Syrian Army now has all main supply lines to Aleppo under its control.

23 October
After months of fighting, the Syrian army captured Morek, a strategic town on the highway linking the cities of Hama and Aleppo.