Syria 5 years on

Five years ago, the Syrian civil war was launched.

The civil war which started as a conflict between pro and anti government forces has turned into a full blown proxy war.

Almost half of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million has been displaced by the war. The UN refugee agency says there are 6.5 million displaced within Syria and 4.8 million refugees outside Syria.

The number of casualties is estimated to be anything from hundreds of thousands to almost half a million dead Syrians.

Today, despite a shaky cease fire and ongoing peace talks, the end of the Syrian civil war does not appear in sight.

The two sides are still entrenched in their original goals that started the civil war in the first place; one side wants to remove Assad, while the other will do anything to keep him there.