Eight years on, Assad clings on but beleaguered

Bashar al-Assad has won his war for political survival but as Syria's conflict enters its ninth year, his country is fractured, cash-strapped, and prey to both friend and foe.

The civil war reaches its eighth anniversary this month with more than 360,000 people killed, millions more displaced, and devastation worth $400 billion.

As the war winds down, Syrians in regime-held areas may no longer have to worry about bombardment, but they face fuel shortages, frequent power cuts, unemployment and rampant poverty.

From the brutal repression of anti-Assad protests in 2011, the war spiralled into a complex conflict involving jihadists.

Read the full article and more on France 24.