Syrian war, rumbling into 10th year, still has global impact

Syrian army soldiers firing their weapons during a battle with rebel fighters at the Ramouseh front line, east of Aleppo, Syria. In a world gripped by a pandemic, global unrest and a fast-moving news cycle, it can be difficult to remember that the war in Syria is still happening. - AP

BEIRUT: In a world gripped by a pandemic called Covid-19 (coronavirus), global unrest and a fast-moving news cycle, it can be difficult to remember that the war in Syria is still happening.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak took over daily lives around the globe, the conflict, which began in early 2011, had largely fallen off the world’s collective radars - reduced to a never-ending fight involving an ever-more complex web of players and refugees that few remember once lived in a country they called home.