Akashat ambush

Akashat ambush
Part of the Syrian civil war and Iraqi insurgency
Date 4 March 2013 Location near Akashat, Anbar province, Iraq Result IS victory
Belligerents
Islamic State of Iraq	Syria Syrian Arab Army  Iraq Iraqi Army
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Major Ali Juwair Al-Dulaimi Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Khalaf al-Dulaimi
Strength
Unknown	64 SAA soldiers 19 Iraqi soldiers
Casualties and losses
Unknown	SAA: 51 killed, 10 wounded, 13 survivors Iraq Army: 13 killed

 Syria

 Iraq

Major Ali Juwair Al-Dulaimi

The Akashat ambush was a well planned assault against a unarmed Syrian Army convoy defended by Iraqi soldiers that took place on 4 March 2013, as the group was travelling in the province of Anbar, next to the border with Syria. The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the ambush on March 11.

On 1 March, according to the Syrian officer who was in charge of the Yaarubiyeh border crossing, north of the Iraqi border, reported a man identifying himself as the leader of one faction in the Islamist rebel coalition called him that day demanding that he and his men surrender. He refused and the poorly defended border outpost, which only had 70 soldiers despite being one of the three main ones along the Syrian-Iraqi border, came under intense attack resulting in the deaths of six of his men. He said this forced him and the remaining men to the Iraqi Rabiya border crossing.

The group of 64 were detained by Iraqi authorities and transported to Baghdad, where from there they were transported back to Syrian authorities in the al-Waleed border crossing, located in the Anbar province of Iraq.

The incident took place on 4 March, while the convoy was on its way to the al-Waleed Border Crossing post in the Nineveh province of western Iraq, located in the predominantly Sunni Anbar province. The convoy was transporting the unarmed Syrian soldiers in several buses to al-Waleed, where they would be transferred back to Syrian authorities.

While the convoy was on its way Islamic State of Iraq gunmen set up a well coordinated assault on the convoy with roadside bombs, automatic weapons, and rocket-propelled grenades. The gunmen attacked the convoy from two sides. Explosives were first detonated on Iraqi military escorts assigned to protect transport the lorries full of unarmed Syrian soldiers. A massacre ensued against the convoy, a total of 51 Syrian soldiers died while ten others were wounded. and 13 Iraqi soldiers were also killed in the attack.

...
Wikipedia