Siege of Base 46
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The siege of Base 46 ( ar, حصار الفوج 46) was a
siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
of the
Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...
base at
Urum al-Sughra Urum al-Sughra ( ar, أورم الصغرى) is a village in western Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. With a population of 637 as per the 2004 census, the village administratively belongs to Nahiya Urum al-Kubrah in Atarib District Atarib ...
by opposition forces waged from late September 2012 until 19 November 2012 as part of the Syrian Civil War. It ended on 19 November 2012 after opposition forces stormed and captured Base 46, in what is considered a key strategic victory for
Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...
(FSA) forces operating in northern Syria.


Background

Located southeast of rebel-held
Atarib Atarib ( ar, أتارب, ʾAtārib), also known as Atharib or Athareb, is a town in western Aleppo countryside, Aleppo Governorate, Syria. Located west of the city of Aleppo and southeast of Reyhanlı in Turkish-administered Hatay Province, it i ...
near the crossroads village of Urum al-Sughra on the main highway between
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and
Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...
, Base 46 covers an area of on a hilltop. A major supply and command centre for government forces operating in northwest Syria, it is considered possibly the largest base of its kind in northern Syria. The base takes its name from the resident 46th Regiment of the
15th Special Forces Division The 15th Special Forces Division is a division of the Syrian Armed Forces specializing in light infantry operations, based in the As-Suwayda Governorate, and headed by Major General Ghassan Al Yasmina. Role Syrians use the term 'Special Forces' t ...
, one of the main government units fighting in the
Battle of Aleppo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
. Base 46 has been described as "a strategic prize in the battle for Aleppo", as it occupies a chokepoint on the main army supply route from Idlib to Aleppo. It has been used to shell towns and villages throughout Idlib and Aleppo provinces.


Siege

The siege began in late September as a force of 1,500 fighters, mainly from Aleppo and Idlib provinces, was assembled under the command of
Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
Ahmad al-Fajj to capture the base. Al-Fajj, a defector from the
Syrian Armed Forces The Syrian Arab Armed Forces ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ, al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah) are the military forces of the Syrian Arab Re ...
, notably banned politicians, including Islamists, from joining his force. On 22 September, rebels seized the adjacent village of
Urum al-Kubrah Urum al-Kubrah ( ar, أورم الكبرى, also spelled Urem al-Kubra) is a town in western Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. With a population of 5,391 as per the 2004 census, it is the administrative center of Nahiya Urum al-Kubrah in At ...
from "pro-government militias", opening the way to lay siege to the base. Rebels originally thought that Base 46 would fall quickly, but government forces put up a stiff resistance. By 9 October, the rebel offensive against the base had bogged down. Government troops and snipers had occupied a former school building in the adjacent village of Kafr Ama, halting any attempted rebel advance through a nearly
no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
, while the rebels were battered by government airstrikes and plagued by ammunition shortages and command disputes. Nevertheless, the rebels had succeeded in cutting the base off from land resupply; only helicopters were able to airlift supplies to the besieged troops within the base. General al-Fajj stated that 20 soldiers had defected from the base, who reported that low morale and hunger were causing problems amongst the units trapped in the base. On 14 October 2012, the base's garrison of several hundred soldiers was reported to have been surrounded by rebel forces. Rebels claimed to have shot down a fighter jet nearby on the previous day as they halted a column of government armoured vehicles heading from Aleppo city to relieve the base, one of two failed attempts by the army to relieve the siege in such a manner. On 18 November, rebel forces stormed and entered Base 46, clearing all resistance by the following day. Though banned from serving in General al-Fajj's FSA units, Islamist fighters from the Fajr al-Islam group were one of several rebel groups that participated in the final assault. The base soon came under government air assault after opposition forces forced the government troops out, but rebels managed to hold their gains. Foreign journalists soon were able to visit the base following the end of the battle, confirming the rebel victory.


Aftermath

The base's facilities sustained heavy damage during the siege. All of its buildings were gutted and scarred from small-arms fire and shelling, and at least one major building was destroyed in the final assault. Rebel fighters looted the base of weapons and defaced portraits of President
Bashar al-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 ...
found in the buildings. Those government soldiers who did not escape were reportedly taken prisoner, though an unknown number were apparently released after agreeing to defect. According to General al-Fajj, "nearly 300" government soldiers were killed during the siege, while around 60 more were taken prisoner. Government dead were buried in mass graves on the base, while al-Fajj stated that the prisoners would be tried for war crimes. Large quantities of
materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
from the base fell into rebel hands. Around 15 tanks and armoured vehicles as well as numerous artillery pieces and rocket launchers were taken by rebels from Base 46 to more secure locations closer to the Turkish border. The equipment haul included a number of
DShK The DShK 1938 (Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped but ...
heavy machine guns and around 18 complete Strela 2
MANPADs Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters. Overview MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...
, both highly useful in anti-aircraft capacities. The capture of Base 46 has been characterised as a significant strategic victory for opposition forces in northern Syria, showing a higher level of strategic planning and organisation taking form within the FSA. In addition to partially encircling government forces fighting in Aleppo, the base's capture eliminates another potential supply route for them, while further opening up rebel supply routes coming from
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. The fall of Base 46 additionally has been characterised as important for rebel forces seeking to gain more ground in the ongoing battle for Idlib Province. Soon after the capture, an army attack helicopter and a MiG fighter jet were shot down by rebels in Aleppo Province using domestically captured weapons, possibly from Base 46. On 21 November, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that rebels had on the previous day stormed the besieged base of the 111th Regiment at Sheikh Suleiman, located north of Base 46. The success of the assault on Base 46 was not repeated, and opposition fighters were repelled from the area by an army counterattack, in which 25 rebels were killed. However, other opposition activists reported that the rebels managed to temporarily capture half of the base in the attack, allegedly taking a handful of artillery pieces and significant stores of ammunition in the process and declaring the base as functionally "neutralised". Fighting was still ongoing. On 27 November, rebels allegedly used surface-to-air missiles seized from Base 46 to shoot down a government helicopter returning to Aleppo from a resupply mission to Sheikh Suleiman. Sheikh Suleiman finally fell to rebels led by the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra on 10 December. Base 46 was recaptured by the Syrian Army on 13 February 2020, as part of a larger offensive conducted by government forces in the region.


References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Base 46 Base 46 Aleppo Governorate in the Syrian civil war Atarib District Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian government Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Free Syrian Army September 2012 events in Syria October 2012 events in Syria November 2012 events in Syria