Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015)
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The Palmyra offensive of July–August 2015 was a military operation launched during the Syrian Civil War by the
Syrian Arab Army The Syrian Army, officially the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) ( ar, الْجَيْشُ الْعَرَبيُّ السُّورِيُّ, al-Jayš al-ʿArabī as-Sūrī), is the army, land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military ...
in July 2015, in an attempt to recapture the
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 ...
-held city of
Tadmur Palmyra (; ar, تَدْمُر, Tadmor; Palmyrene: ''Tadmor'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert northeast of Damascus and southwest of the Eu ...
, known in English as
Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...
.


Background

In late May 2015, ISIL forces captured Palmyra and the surrounding countryside after a large-scale offensive. Between 15 and 22 June, the Syrian Army recaptured the Jazal oil field, and reopened a transport route from the field towards Syrian government-held cities. The advance placed the Syrian Army 10 kilometers west of Palmyra; however, this was not the start of a large-scale offensive to retake the city. ISIL destroyed, by mining, some of the ruins of ancient Palmyra which are a
UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.


The offensive

On 8 July 2015, the Syrian Arab Army and National Defense Forces, supported by the Syrian Arab Air Force, began an offensive towards Palmyra and by the next day made advances, positioning themselves 4–5 kilometers from the city. The military seized around a 15 km area, west of Palmyra, and some of the locations they had reportedly captured over the previous 24 hours was Nuzl Hayal and the Tel al Marmala, about 10 km from Palmyra's city center. Syrian government forces made further advances 11 July, as the death toll since the start of the offensive reached at least 30 ISIL fighters and 12 soldiers. On 13 July, the Syrian Army's special forces unit, the Tiger Forces, captured the Ancient Quarries in the northwestern countryside of Palmyra after fierce clashes with ISIL. According to a Syrian Army source, Syrian Arab Army (SAA) units were less than 2 km from the Qassoun Checkpoint, leading to the Qassoun Mountains of Palmyra. Two days later, the SAA and National Defence Forces (NDF) reportedly managed to capture Al-Meshtal and Qasr Al-Hayr south of Tiyas Military Airbase. Over 15 and 16 July, fighting between ISIL and the Tiger Forces moved to the southeast of the Ancient Quarries, while the Syrian Army also reportedly advanced into the Wadi Al-Abyad (White Valley). Fighting in the Palmyra countryside continued into 20 and 22 July. On 24 July, the SAA resumed operations towards the southern perimeter of the Ancient Quarries. On 26 July, Syrian government troops advanced, capturing some strategic hills that would allow them to survey ISIL forces inside of Palmyra City. On 27 July, the SAA and Hezbollah reportedly captured Palmyra Castle, after a three-hour gunfight. As a result, Syrian government forces were now a mere three kilometers from the ancient city. Footage also showed approximately 300 ISIL combatants fleeing in the direction of their capital
Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, 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. T ...
. On 1 August, SOHR reported that the
Syrian Arab Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War * ...
(SAAF) was still bombing Palmyra. On 4 August, ISIL launched a counter-offensive, recapturing the territory north of the Ancient Quarries and south of the Jazal Mountains. However, the SAA managed to repel the ISIL assault and to recapture most of the lost territory.


Aftermath

In March 2016, the Syrian Army, supported by the Russian Air Force, launched a new offensive with the aim of capturing Palmyra which turned out a success.


See also

* Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict (2013–present)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmyra offensive (2015 07-08) Palmyra Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2015 Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Homs 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 Hezbollah July 2015 events in Syria August 2015 events in Syria