The Battle of Taftanaz started on February 11, 2012 in

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...

, between anti-government fighters and Syrian Arab Army troops participating in a nationwide crackdown on dissent against

Bashar Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...

's government. Heavy fighting took place on the outskirts of the town of

Taftanaz Taftanaz ( ar, تَفْتَنَاز, Taftanāz, also spelled Teftanaz) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 17 kilometers northeast of Idlib. Nearby localities include Ta'um and Binnish to the so ...

, killing 20 people.Syria violence kills 80
/ref> On the day of the battle Kofi Annan announced a cease-fire for the Syrian conflict. By 5 April, the military captured Taftanaz's city center, which was defended by 200 armed rebels, after a two-hour battle, following which the army reportedly rounded up and executed 82 people. It was unknown how many were opposition fighters and how many were civilians. Two months after, it was called a "massacre" 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 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 presence. Nine Syrian Arab Army tanks were destroyed by homemade bombs as they left the town.

References

External links

In Cold Blood
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Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

'', 10 April 2012.
They Burned My Heart
''

'', 3 May 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taftanaz Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2012 Idlib Governorate in the Syrian civil war Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian government Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Free Syrian Army Battles of the Syrian civil war