DHAKA: Syria’s conflict entered its fifth year on Sunday with the regime emboldened by shifting international attention, and a growing humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the rise of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria group.

More than 215,000 people have been killed and half of the country’s population displaced, prompting human rights groups to accuse the international community of ‘failing Syria’.

The country has been carved up by government forces, extremist groups, Kurdish fighters and the remaining non-extremist rebels.

Diplomacy remains stalled, with two rounds of peace talks achieving no progress and even a proposal for a local ceasefire in second city Aleppo fizzling out, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 2117 HRS, MAR 15, 2015