The June 2012 – April 2013 Idlib Governorate clashes was a series of clashes within the scope of the Syrian civil war, that took place in Syria's Idlib Governorate. The events followed the April 2012 Idlib Governorate Operation by the Syrian government and consequent cease-fire attempt, which had lasted from 14 April to 2 June 2012.
Background
Timeline
June 2012 In early June, the area known as the al-Ghab plain, was reportedly under rebel control. One of the main rebel headquarters was in the town of Qalaat al-Madiq. The Syrian Government army still had a base near Qalaat al-Mudiq, in the old citadel, but was respecting a truce with the rebels. FSA forces had captured territory from the mountains around Jisr al-Shughour in the north of Idlib province to the town of Tell Salhab in the south, and east to the highway that links the cities of Hama and Idlib. The outskirts of Jisr al-Shughour were also reportedly under opposition control as well as the edges of Idlib city and the surrounding areas. However, Idlib proper was still being held by government forces. Rebels were administering justice and providing local services, including the distribution of cooking gas and food in these areas. The U.N. cease-fire that was supposed to begin in April had never really taken effect.
A journalist spent time in a village controlled by the Sham Falcons forces of the FSA and witnessed an ambush on approaching government soldiers, in which three soldiers were claimed killed. The majority of the men fighting for the rebels were reportedly locals who were living close by. The journalist also witnessed a government helicopter attack on a village where rebels were holding a meeting, during which an eight-year-old boy and his father were killed, the article reported that attacks like these turned some civilians into rebels. Sham Falcons were operating in Jabal al-Zawiya region of Idlib Governorate. Eight out of the 35 villages of the Jabal al-Zawiya region of Idlib province, around 25 percent, were reportedly under opposition control.
Three soldiers were killed on 6 June by an explosion targeting their vehicle. Five days later, a bomb exploded in Idlib city killing seven soldiers and one civilian, and two weeks later, five soldiers were killed when a car bomb exploded at their checkpoint in Idlib city. On 21 June 2 soldiers were reported killed.
A group called the Damascus Falcons, which has 1,000 members, destroyed a military camp near to its headquarters in a village in Idlib province. They emerged victorious, captured one tank from the base and photographed 35 dead soldiers in that attack. 5 soldiers were later captured, then they were executed by the Falcons who had put them on trial and found them guilty of killing civilians.
Two months after the military operation in the town of Taftnaz, two-thirds of the population had left. The town had been a centre for opposition protests until the army had raided it with tanks on 3 April. Witnesses in the town said that tanks shelled the town from four sides before armored cars brought in dozens of soldiers who dragged civilians from their homes and gunned them down in the streets, and they also claimed that the soldiers also looted, destroyed and torched hundreds of homes, bringing some down on their owners' heads. Videos showed this, and 62 people were killed during the attack, despite the town only having a small rebel prescience. 9 government tanks were destroyed by homemade bombs as they left though.
The government reported on 21 June that two soldiers and a number of rebels were killed in the armed clashes. Two days later, the army killed four rebels in Jabal al-Zawiya, according to state media. Three days later, state media claimed that nine rebels and two policemen were killed in Idlib Governorate.
It was reported on 26 June that around 280 soldiers defected from the army on the main highway running from Idlib to Aleppo and clashed with government troops. During the fighting, the army defectors brought down one helicopter and destroyed three tanks near Saraqib. This was one of the largest defections up until that time in Idlib, in an area that since March was considered under government control, after the army had cracked down on Idlib and Saraqib. One day later, armed clashed in Idlib resulted in the death of six civilians, three rebels and five soldiers, including a colonel from the elite Republican Guard. Around the same time it was reported that Saraqib was under opposition control. SANA reported four rebels were killed in the fighting in the governorate.
In late June, a BBC reporter sneaked into Syria and confirmed that the Syrian rebels were growing in numbers, were better armed and that they controlled large swathes of land in the north of Idlib governorate.
July 2012 The Turkish government reported on 3 July that 85 soldiers, including a general and a number of other high-ranking officers, had defected from the Syrian army and crossed into Turkey. Three days later, five soldiers were killed near Maarrat al-Nu'man by an explosion. The Syrian army responded by bombarding the town and killing two rebels. On the same day, the army advanced on Khan Shaykhun and entered the city and inflicted heavy losses on the rebels. During the fighting, the government suffered a number of heavy losses as well. The government later took control of the town and forced the opposition to retreat. On 8 July, two more rebels were killed in Khan Shaykhun, opposition sources reported.
On 10 July, three soldiers, including an officer, were killed when their car was attacked.
On 11 July 7 soldiers were killed in Idlib province.
On 13 July, the opposition activist group Syrian Observatory reported that 18 rebels had been killed in attack in the Idlib Governorate by the army. On 14 July, the same group reported that another 10 rebels were killed while 15 other were wounded near the Turkish border.
On 16 July 12 soldiers were killed when their military truck was attacked.
On 18 July, following bombing in Damascus which claimed lives of several most prominent government officials, troops reportedly withdrew from Maarrat al-Nu'man area. Local FSA commander in one of the rebel controlled towns also said to TIME journalist that about 1,500 fighters from Idlib were sent to Damascus to reinforce the ongoing rebel offensive. Also, it was reported that some 60 soldiers defected in Bab al-Hawa in Idlib to join the Free Syrian Army. Some of the defected soldiers came with seven tanks.
The rebels tried to take over a border crossing with Turkey but were repelled by the Syrian Army. However, the rebels later seized control of the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the border with Turkey according to S.O.H.R. They reportedly controlled the gate and customs and immigration buildings after 10 days of trying to overrun it. It was also reported that Bab al-Salam crossing with Turkey was also taken by the FSA. A third crossing with Turkey at the town of Jarabulus also fell into rebel hands after Assad's forces abandoned the town.
The following day, the Syrian Army retook control of the Bab al-Hawa crossing according to Turkish journalists. However, on 21 June Andrew Thomas, working for Al-Jazeera, traveled to the Bab al-Hawa crossing and saw that the Syrian side was under firm control of the Free Syrian Army, with a checkpoint set up near the Turkish border. The army held a base some kilometers down the road into Syria, but no shooting was going on as of the moment.
Rebels were reported to be looting, burning and racketing Turkish trucks drivers.http://www.france24.com/en/20120721-turkish-truck-drivers-accuse-rebel-fighters-looting On 22 July, the Free Syrian Army controlled three crossings into Turkey, two of them in the Idlib governorate. Also, rebel fighters had taken the town of Armanaz north of Idlib. Twelve rebels were killed and 40 wounded in the attack on the Bab al-Salam crossing, which they later took control of. On 23 July state media reported that at least 5 rebels were killed in Sahel al Rouj, Idlib governorate.
On 25 July, the regular army pulled units back from Idlib to Aleppo. Rebels attacked the Syrian Army armoured column near Urum al-Jawz, al-Rami and al-Bara.
On 27 July, Syrian rebels captured 50 troops, including 14 officers, in the town of Maarrat al-Nu'man, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "After clashes that lasted 12 hours, rebels destroyed a military security post and captured 50 regime troops, including 14 officers." Four rebels were killed.
On 30 July, one soldier was killed in Idlib.
In late July, a journalist met with a rebel brigade with Libyan volunteers, commanded by leader of the Tripoli Brigade during the Libyan Civil War, Mahdi al-Harati. 90% of the brigades 6,000 fighters were Syrian. Harati was training the fighters, and the brigade were involved in a battle that killed 63 soldiers and 3 rebels in Idlib province. On 4 August a lot of rebels were killed, including 4 who were named and 4 others who were arrested. At least two rebels were killed and five others arrested on 12 August, the Syrian media reported.
August 2012 Late on 11 August, government forces recaptured the town of Ariha after troops backed by tanks entered it. Rebels had captured the town months before. On 13 August, Al Jazeera reported that the rebels had returned to Ariha and had managed to block a key route in the town that led to Aleppo.
On 29 August, the Free Syrian Army opened an offensive near Taftanaz. The goal was to capture or destroy the main military base there, from where most helicopters in Idlib operated. The rebels for the first time used technicals and heavy weapons in their assault on the army base. Fighting was ongoing for hours. Rebels reported they had suffered some casualties, but that they had also damaged a number of helicopters in Taftanaz. The army shelled the area. The military claimed to have repelled the attack and 14 soldiers and two rebels were killed. By 31 August, rebels claimed to have taken the airbase and destroyed 10 helicopter gunships that were stationed there.
On 30 August, a MiG fighter plane was shot down in the area, with rebel videos showing the pilot parachuting to safety but in a latter video he is found dead.
During August, rebel forces had also seized the town of Kafr Nabl, capturing 112 soldiers in the process.
September 2012 On 22 September, rebels claimed to have carried out a coordinated attack involving 3 rebel battalions on an army base, and then preventing Syrian Army reinforcements from reaching the base. They also claimed to have shot down a fighter jet during the attack, though this was not independently confirmed.
By September 2012, the Syrian Air Force base at Abu al-Thuhur in eastern Idlib Governorate was partially besieged by rebel fighters. The rebels, led by prominent commander Jamal Maarouf, established positions on the base's western edge, from where they were able to fire on the base's runways. The base was reported to have been rendered effectively unusable as a result, with planes no longer able to fly to or from it.
October 2012 In early October, rebels took control of the town of Khirbet al-Joz near the border with Turkey. The fighting lasted 12 hours and resulted in at least 40 dead among the Syrian army forces, including five officers, and nine rebel fighters.