Battle of Damascus (2012)

Battle of Damascus (2012) معركة دمشق
Part of the Syrian Civil War (Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign)
Situation in the city during the battle of Damascus. Pink indicates a conflict area.
Date 15 July – 4 August 2012 (2 weeks and 6 days) Location Damascus, Syria Result Syrian Army victory Rebel offensive repelled Four senior government officials killed in a bombing attack Sporadic insurgent attacks continue leading to a military offensive into the countryside in mid-August
Belligerents
Free Syrian Army	Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed Forces
Commanders and leaders
Qasem Sadedine Riad al-Asaad Adnan Sillu Zahran Aloush	Bashar Al-Assad Dawoud Rajiha † Assef Shawkat † Fahd Jassem al-Freij Ali Abdullah Ayyoub Maher al-Assad Mohammad al-Shaar (WIA) Hasan Turkmani † Hisham Ikhtiyar †
Units involved
Elements from Idlib, Raqqa, Hama and Homs groups Several local Palestinian militias	3rd Armoured Division 4th Armoured Division Republican Guard Elements of other divisions
Strength
2,500–5,000 fighters (start of the battle) 1,500 Idlib fighters 800 fighters (time of the Tadamoun battle)	178,000 total strength
Casualties and losses
300 killed, hundreds captured 14 vehicles destroyed (government claim)	92–97 killed* 130 wounded, 3 tanks and 1 AV destroyed 1 AV captured 3 Mil Mi-8 helicopters shot down 300 killed (opposition claim)
140+ civilians killed
Figures updated to 19 July

Syrian Army victory

Syrian Arab Republic

2,500–5,000 fighters (start of the battle)

The Battle of Damascus (Arabic: معركة دمشق‎‎), also known as Operation Damascus Volcano (Arabic: عملية بركان دمشق‎‎), started on 15 July 2012 during the Syrian Civil War. It is unclear who started the battle. Thousands of rebels infiltrated Damascus from the surrounding countryside. Following this, according to some reports, the opposition forces launched an operation to capture the capital, while according to other reports, the military learned of the large-scale rebel operation beforehand and made a preemptive strike. Some reports even suggested the rebels launched the operation prematurely due to their plans being discovered by the security forces.

After the rebels initially captured half a dozen districts and killed four high-ranking government ministers in a bombing, opposition forces were forced to retreat following a military counter-attack, leaving the army in control of the capital after three weeks of fighting. It was the first time tanks and helicopters had been deployed in central Damascus and left parts of the city as a warzone.

On 15 July, fierce fighting was reported in some quarters of central Damascus as the army moved in to dislodge rebels. The rebels fighting were the ones who were routed from Douma and other suburbs and fled to Damascus itself. Fighting also closed the road leading from central Damascus to airport. The rebels were also on the offensive, attacking the Hajar al-Aswad district.

On 16 July, for a second day, heavy clashes in the southern Midan and Tadhamon districts of Damascus raged with the military managing to surround the rebel forces in the area and sending tanks and other armored vehicles into the neighborhoods. The FSA had reportedly taken control of the two districts earlier and the military was making attempts to overrun it. The rebels called the clashes a raid by them against the capital, while the government called it a 48-hour military operation to clear the area of any opposition forces. There were also indications that the government knew about the planned rebel raid and acted on the information. According to state TV, the military killed over 80 rebel fighters during the fighting.

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Wikipedia