The Akashat ambush was a well planned assault against an unarmed Syrian Army convoy defended by Iraqi soldiers that took place on 4 March 2013, as the group was travelling in the province of Anbar, next to the border with Syria. The

Islamic State of Iraq The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ') was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an ...

claimed responsibility for the ambush on 11 March 2013.

Prelude

On 1 March 2013, according to the Syrian officer who was in charge of the Yaarubiyeh border crossing, north of the Iraqi border, reported a man identifying himself as the leader of one faction of Jabhat al-Nusra called him that day demanding that he and his men surrender. He refused and the poorly defended border outpost, which only had 70 soldiers despite being one of the three main ones along the Syrian–Iraqi border, came under intense attack resulting in the deaths of six of his men. He said this forced him and the remaining men to the Iraqi Rabiya border crossing. The group of 64 were detained by Iraqi authorities and transported to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, where from there they were to be transported back to Syrian authorities in the Al Waleed border crossing, located in Iraq's

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

majority

Al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...

close to the

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian borders.

Ambush

The incident took place on 4 March 2013, while the convoy was on its way to the al-Waleed Border Crossing post in southwestern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, located in the predominantly

Anbar Province. The convoy was transporting the unarmed Syrian soldiers in several buses to al-Waleed, where they would be transferred back to Syrian authorities. While the convoy was on its way, Islamic State of Iraq gunmen set up a well coordinated assault on the convoy with roadside bombs, automatic weapons, and rocket-propelled grenades. The gunmen attacked the convoy from two sides. Explosives were first detonated on Iraqi military escorts assigned to protect transport the lorries full of unarmed Syrian soldiers. A total of 51 Syrian soldiers died, while ten others were wounded. Thirteen Iraqi soldiers were also killed in the attack.

Perpetrators

The identity of the attackers was immediately unknown, but Iraqi officials initially blamed the Free Iraqi Army, who are predominantly Sunni and have connections to the rebel group of the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

. This incident also raised fears that Iraq could be drawn into the Syrian Civil War. On 11 March 2013, the

claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement, stating that they had set ambushes on roads to the Syrian border and had "annihilated" the convoy. The statement referred to the convoy as a "column of the

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

army", a reference to the Shia Persian dynasty that ruled Iran from 1501 to 1736. The group also claimed that the presence of Syrian soldiers in Iraq showed "firm co-operation" between the Syrian and Iraqi governments which they referred to as the "

Nusayri Alawites () are an Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate Ali ibn ...

- Rawafid alliance".

References

{{coord, 33.2500, N, 40.5833, E, source:wikidata, display=title Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2013 Bombings in the Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013) Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Iraq–Syria border Spillover of the Syrian civil war Ambushes in Iraq March 2013 in Syria March 2013 in Iraq History of Al Anbar Governorate Grenade attacks in Iraq March 2013 crimes in Asia Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2013 ISIL terrorist incidents in Iraq Bus bombings in Iraq 2013 road incidents in Asia Car and truck bombings in Iraq Car and truck bombings in 2013 Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Iraqi government Ambushes of the Syrian civil war