Reversal of Fortunes Written on Syrian Map

The five-year civil war has seen plenty of tortuous battlefield ups and downs. Between May and August last year, the Assad government looked almost defeated after suffering some stunning military reversals, losing Idlib to an alliance consisting mainly of al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and the hardline Islamists of Ahrar al-Sham, and then Palmyra to the Islamic State.