2015 Idlib offensive

2015 Idlib offensive
Part of the Syrian Civil War
Map of Syria with Idlib highlighted
Date 24 March – 5 April 2015 (1 week and 5 days) Location Idlib Governorate, Syria Result Partial al-Nusra Front-led rebel victory Rebels capture Idlib city and besiege Kafarya and Al-Fu'ah Rebel attack on Mastouma repelled
Belligerents
Army of Conquest Al-Nusra Front Ahrar ash-Sham Sham Legion Jaysh al-Sunna Liwa al-Haqq Jund al-Aqsa Ajnad ash-Sham Farouq Brigades	Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed Forces National Defense Force
Commanders and leaders
Abu Kamal (Ahrar ash-Sham Central Area Commander) Abu Jamil Yusuf al-Qutb † (Ahrar ash-Sham deputy leader) Abu Abdul-Salam Mudhar Abdul-Salam Hamdoun, Ahrar-ul-Sham commander, later appointed Idlib governor-general Hassan al-Khalifa † (Omar al-Farouq Brigade commander) Abu Abdullah Taoum † (Ajnad ash-Sham leader) Nathir Terman † (al-Nusra field commander)	Brig. Gen. Emad Ibrahim Col. Suheil Al Hassan Mohamed Khair al-Sayyed (Governor of Idlib) Al Hajj Walaa † (Hezbollah commander)
Units involved
Omar al-Farouq Brigade	11th Armored Division 155th Brigade “Al-Qawat Al-Nimr” Brigade
Strength
5,000–7,000 fighters al-Nusra Front: 3,000 fighters	Unknown

Partial al-Nusra Front-led rebel victory

Army of Conquest

Syrian Arab Republic

Abu Kamal
(Ahrar ash-Sham Central Area Commander)
Abu Jamil Yusuf al-Qutb †
(Ahrar ash-Sham deputy leader)
Abu Abdul-Salam Mudhar Abdul-Salam Hamdoun, Ahrar-ul-Sham commander, later appointed Idlib governor-general Hassan al-Khalifa †
(Omar al-Farouq Brigade commander)
Abu Abdullah Taoum †
(Ajnad ash-Sham leader)

5,000–7,000 fighters

The 2015 Idlib offensive refers to a series of rebel operations in the Idlib Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War. The offensive started with a rebel assault on the capital of the province, Idlib. According to The Economist, the capture of Idlib came about largely because Gulf Arab states "gave more backing to their proxies despite American objections."

On 24 March 2015, the newly established Fattah Army operation room ("The Army of Conquest") assaulted Idlib city from three sides. On 27 March, the rebels managed to penetrate the city. At this point, the city was almost completely encircled by rebel groups, leaving only two exit routes for government forces. The next day, after four days of fighting, rebels captured the city and managed to besiege the towns of Kafarya and al-Fu'a. Syrian government troops regrouped south of the city, and were preparing for a possible attack by rebel forces.

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Wikipedia