Palmyra offensive (December 2016)
2016 military operation of the Syrian Civil War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Palmyra offensive in December 2016 was a military operation launched by the military of ISIL which led to the re-capture of the ancient city of Palmyra, and an unsuccessful ISIL attack on the Tiyas T-4 Airbase to the west of the city.[2][35] ISIL previously controlled the city from May 2015 until March 2016.
Palmyra offensive (December 2016) | |||||||
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Part of the Syrian Civil War Military intervention against ISIL Russian military intervention in Syria | |||||||
Map showing the territory captured by ISIL since 8 December 2016. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
Syria CJTF–OIR | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
"al-Mukahal" Amr As'ad †[14] (Leading ISIL commander for Palmyra operations) Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti[15] (ISIL senior commander, redeployed to Raqqa front after 11 December) Abu Hafs al-Mashrifi[16] (ISIL Security Chief in Homs) Umar As'ad †[17][18] (ISIL top commander) |
Col. Ali Shaheen[19] (leading operations commander 10–11 December) Maj. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan[20] (leading operations commander since 14 December) Maj. Gen. Shawkat[19] (Desert Commandos commander) Brig. Gen. Hussein Khader †[21][22] Malek Shafiq Omar †[23] (Qalamoun Shield commander) Maj. Sanal Sanchirov †[24] (Air Assault battalion commander) Brig. Gen. Hassan Akbari †[11][25] (IRGC Ground Forces commander) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Military of ISIL |
Liwa Fatemiyoun
Hezbollah | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
4,000–5,000 militants[27] |
3,000+ fighters[19] (by the beginning of the offensive)
Unknown number of reinforcements
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
149 killed (per The Inside Source)[34] 630 killed (pro-government claims)[35][36][37][38] |
100 killed, 200 wounded and 30 missing (per the Army)[36] 182 killed (per SOHR)[39][40] 352 killed, 22 captured (pro-ISIL claim)[41] |
The unexpected blitz offensive occurred concurrently with three major anti-ISIL offensives: the Turkish Western al-Bab offensive and Battle of al-Bab north of Aleppo, the Kurdish-Arab Raqqa campaign, and the Iraqi Battle of Mosul in Iraq, which saw all three gaining ground from the Islamic State.
In January 2017, the Syrian Army and allied forces launched another offensive to recapture Palmyra and its surrounding areas.