March, 2011
15: First protests after a Facebook call for a ''Day of Dignity''.
18-27: Crackdowns in Damascus, Banias and Deraa, cradle of the uprising where 100 are reportedly killed on 23 March. Deadly violence also in Latakia.
April, 2011
18: Damascus vows to crush what it calls an "armed revolt" by "Salafists."
25-26: Protests spread and strengthen, with calls for the regime's fall.
July, 2011
15: More than one million protest, notably in Hama and Deir Ezzor. On 31 July, the army kills 100 in Hama.
August, 2011
18: US President Barack Obama and his allies urge President Bashar al-Assad to quit. Western and Arab states later impose sanctions on his regime.
November, 2011
16: Rebel Free Syrian Army attacks a Damascus military base.
December, 2011
23: Twin bombs in Damascus kill 44.
January, 2012
6: Damascus car bomb kills 26.
February, 2012
4: China and Russia veto a UN Security Council resolution on Syria for the second time in four months.
10: Twin car bombs in Aleppo kill 28.
12: The Arab League says it will begin contacts with the opposition, offering political and financial support. In January it offers a power transfer plan.
22: A US and a French journalist killed in Homs, after another French journalist was killed there in January.
March, 2012
1: Regime forces seize Homs' Baba Amr district after a 27-day assault rights groups say killed hundreds.
14: Forces seize Idlib city after a four-day assault.
17: Two bombs in Damascus kill 27.
21: The Security Council demands Syria immediately implement international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, and urges Assad to work towards a ceasefire and democratic transition.
April, 2012
5: The Security Council formally backs a 10 April deadline Annan agreed with Damascus to end its attacks on protest hubs and on the opposition to do the same at the latest 48 hours later.
8: Damascus says it will not withdraw forces without ''written guarantees'' the opposition will also lay down arms.
9: Surge in violence kills at least 105 people. Shots fired across the border wound six in Turkey and kill a cameraman in Lebanon.
10: 52 killed. Kofi Annan says he has received reports of troops moving into other parts of the country and tells the UN that Syria has not sent a "signal of peace." The UN Security Council calls on Damascus to keep a Thursday 0300 GMT deadline for a complete ceasefire.
11: The regime presses its assaults on protest hubs, more than a day after the peace plan was scheduled to enter into effect. It says that it will cease military operations against rebel fighters from Thursday, but will retaliate against any attack by the armed terrorist groups.
12: Kofi Annan-brokered ceasefire comes into effect at 6am (0300 GMT).
