Ma'adan ( ar, معدان) is a Syrian

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Raqqa District Raqqa District ( ar, منطقة مركز الرقة, Manṭiqat ar-Raqqah) is a district of the Raqqa Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) ( Kurdish: ...

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...

. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ma'adan had a population of 8,663 in the 2004 census.

Syrian Civil War

Ma'adan was captured by rebel forces in the

Raqqa campaign (2012–13) Raqqa campaign may refer to: * Raqqa campaign (2012–13) Raqqa campaign may refer to: * Raqqa campaign (2012–13), battles between various Syrian rebel groups and Syrian government * Raqqa campaign (2016–17), battles between the Syrian Democra ...

during the Syrian Civil War.

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, which had participated in the fighting against Syrian government forces in the Raqqa governate, wrested control of the region, including Ma'adan, from other rebel forces in January 2014. Three and a half years later, though the town was still under ISIL control, ISIL's position in the Syrian Civil War had deteriorated significantly such that it was in danger of losing the entire governate of Raqqa. Ma'adan became an important stronghold used by the organisation during the

Central Syria campaign (2017) The Central Syria campaign, known as "Operation Khuzam," or "Lavender," was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army (SAA) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Syrian Civil War. Its goal was to captur ...

. Syrian government forces encountered significant resistance at Ma'adan when they attempted to advance on the town in mid-August, and consequently bypassed the town in their approach to

Deir ez Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_title = Religions , population_blank2 = ...

. However, on 24 August ISIL forces launched a large-scale operation west of Ma'adan alongside the western bank of the Euphrates, capturing seven villages from the Syrian Army and allied tribal fighters. Overall, government forces were pushed back 30 kilometers from the western outskirts of Ma'adan. Nearly a month later, on 23 September 2017, Ma'adan was liberated by the Syrian government's

Tiger Forces The 25th Special Mission Forces Division, mostly known by their former name Tiger Forces or Quwwat al-Nimr ( ar, قُوَّات النِّمْر), is an elite formation (special forces unit) of the Syrian Arab Army which functions primarily as ...

during their offensive from the south east. This removed the last of ISIL's territory on the west bank of the Euphrates, north of

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References

Populated places in Raqqa District {{RaqqaSY-geo-stub