Battle of Tremseh

Battle of Tremseh معركة التريمسة
Part of the Syrian Civil War
Date 12 July 2012 Location Tremseh, Hama, Syria Result Syrian Army victory
Belligerents
Free Syrian Army	Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed Forces
Commanders and leaders
Saleh al-Subaai † Ibrahim Zuait al-Tarkawai †	Unknown
Units involved
Unknown	15th Division 47th Army Regiment
Strength
250–300 (government claim)	800 (opposition claim)
Casualties and losses
37–50 rebels killed	3 soldiers killed (government claim)
39 killed overall (government claim) 150 claimed killed overall, 68–103 confirmed (opposition claim)

Syrian Arab Republic

15th Division

The Battle of Tremseh (Arabic: معركة التريمسة‎‎) was led by the Syrian Army against the Free Syrian Army in Tremseh, Syria, in the late hours of 12 July 2012 during the Syrian Civil War leading to a reported death of dozens of rebels, and an unknown number of civilians. On 14 July 2012, the UN observer mission issued a statement, based on the investigation by its team that went to the town, that the Syrian military mainly targeted the homes of rebels and activists, in what the BBC said was a contradiction of the initial opposition claims of a civilian massacre. They said that the number of casualties was unclear and added that they intend to return to the town to continue their investigation.

On 16 July 2012, the Free Syrian Army backtracked on their initial death toll of 200, saying it had been overblown because many of the wounded were counted as dead, and reduced the list of those confirmed killed to 68–103 names. But still, activist Abu Adnan, continued to claim 150 died, with the rest of the bodies allegedly being unidentifiable or stolen by the military during their assault.

A Syrian Army convoy was ambushed by rebels near Hama, which led to a counter-attack from the Syrian Army, and reports suggested government troops were trying to take back the town from rebel forces. According to opposition activists, Tremseh was surrounded by government tanks and artillery, after which, the Syrian military launched a full-scale attack against the opposition Free Syrian Army inside the town. Tanks entered Tremseh after forces had shelled the town continuously from 5 a.m. until noon. Syrian army forces, whose numbers were bolstered by the pro-government militias called "Shabeha", accompanied the tanks into Tremseh. The opposition claimed that, as the government forces rained artillery rounds into the town, a number of village residents fled their houses into the streets, where many of them were shot dead by the government militias. Major General Robert Mood, head of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria, said in Damascus that a U.N. team had observed the fighting from three or four miles outside Tremseh, adding that it involved "mechanized units, indirect fire as well as helicopters."

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Wikipedia