Syrian civil war map: Who controls what?

Since March 2011, fighting has killed an estimated 465,000 Syrians, wounded one million more and forced about 12 million people - or half the country's pre-war population - from their homes.

Eastern Ghouta, an area east of Damascus, has been the focus of a fierce offensive by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths, including 215 children and 145 women, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The government forces had captured the town of Mesraba, which lies 10km east of Damascus, and had begun advancing into its surrounding farms.

About 400,000 people live in the rebel enclave, which has been besieged by government forces for almost five years now, resulting in few supplies reaching the desperate population.

Elsewhere, in northern Syria, Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels have been sent to the Kurdish enclave of Afrin to confront a US-backed Kurdish militia.

Afrin lies just south of the Turkish border. Turkey is trying to oust the Kurdish YPG group, which controls the area and has called the Syrian military for help against the Turks.

Syrian government

Main cities under government control are: Aleppo, Latakia, Tartus, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Palmyra, Abu Kamal. 

ISIL control

Kurdish control

Other groups fighting in Syria include Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Iran-backed Hezbollah, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

They control: Afrin, Raqqa, Qamishli, Hasakah

Other groups

The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a loose conglomeration of armed brigades formed in 2011 by defectors from the Syrian army and civilians aiming to topple President Bashar al-Assad. 

Since the battle of Aleppo, the FSA has remained in control of limited areas in northwestern Syria. 

Main cities: Idlib, and the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus. 

Eastern Ghouta

Eastern Ghouta has been under siege since 2013, as the last rebel stronghold near the capital, it has become the target of relentless bombing by the Syrian government. 

Jaish al-Islam, Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham are the largest armed groups in control of the suburb. 

Al-Qaeeda offshoot, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front) also has a minor presence, unwelcomed by the other groups. 

As of February 28, the most intense bombing has been in the towns of Douma, Mesraba and Harasta near the front lines.
As of March 10, Mesraba has been taken under government control.