Battle of Al-Qaryatayn (August 2015)
| Battle of Al-Qaryatayn (August 2015) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Syrian Civil War | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Abu Hassan Al Khatami †
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 Talal al-Barazi(Governor of the Homs Governorate) |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| ~27 militants killed | 37 soldiers killed | ||||||||
| 230 civilians abducted by ISIL | |||||||||
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
The Battle of al-Qaryatayn (August 2015) was a military operation launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to capture the town of Al-Qaryatayn, in August 2015, during the Syrian Civil War.
For much of the Syrian Civil War, which began in March 2011, al-Qaryatayn remained relatively neutral in the conflict. Town elders made agreements with both government forces and the rebels to stay out of the fighting. However, its location is strategic as it lies at a crossroads between the northern and southern parts of the country. Al-Qaryatayn has served as conduit for both sides. Rebels smuggle arms from the north to rebel fighters in Damascus, while the government uses the town to reinforce and resupply their forces in the north and west. It has also been used as a corridor for defectors from the Syrian Army from across the country as highways from the northern, southern, eastern and western directions run through al-Qaryatayn. In late May 2015, ISIL forces captured Palmyra and the surrounding countryside after a large offensive.
On 5 August, ISIL captured the town of al-Qaryatayn. This resulted in the deaths of 40 Syrian soldiers and 27 ISIL militants. It was reported that ISIL use deserts of Homs as launchpad for the attack on Al Qaraytain and the master mind of this operation was an ISIL Emir known as Abu Hassan Al Khatami. Abu Hassan was killed in the battle and ISIL renamed the battle after him as Battle of Abu Hassan Al Khatami in order to pay tribute to his services to ISIL.
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Wikipedia