Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017)
Military operation of the Syrian Army / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017) was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army that initially started along the highway from Damascus to the border with Iraq against rebel forces during the Syrian civil war. Its first intended goal was to capture both the highway and the al-Tanf border crossing, thus securing the Damascus countryside from a potential rebel attack.[34][35] Later, multiple other fronts were opened as part of the operation throughout the desert, as well as operation "Grand Dawn" against ISIL with the aim of reopening the Damascus-Palmyra highway and preparing for an offensive towards Deir ez-Zor.[citation needed]
Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017) | ||||||||
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Part of the Syrian civil war and the Russian military intervention in Syria | ||||||||
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Belligerents | ||||||||
Iran[7] Allied militias: PMF-affiliated militias[8] Hezbollah[9] Liwa Fatemiyoun[10] Supported by: UAE[11] Egypt[11] |
Free Syrian Army Supported by: United States[12][13] Jordan United Kingdom[7] Norway[7] | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (since 23 May) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani[14] (Quds Force chief commander) Mowafiq As'ad[15] (Chief of staff for eastern Syria until 28 June) Brig. Gen. Rafiq Shahadeh[15] (Chief of staff for eastern Syria from 28 June) Maj. Gen. Fuad Khaddour †[16] (Syrian Army top commander) Turki Albu Hamad[17] (Forces of the Fighters of the Tribes) Mohammad Hosseini "Salman" †[10] (Hazrat-e Fatemeh Zahra Brigade intelligence chief) |
Tlas Salama[18] (Revolutionary Commando Army commander) | Unknown | ||||||
Units involved | ||||||||
Syrian Armed Forces Syrian pro-government militias
PMF-affiliated Iraqi militias
Liwa Fatemiyoun
Russian Armed Forces and affiliated units
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Strength | ||||||||
50,000 (pro-government claim)[32]
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Revolutionary Commando Army: "Hundreds"[19] 150 US troops,[19] 1 HIMARS[33] | Unknown |
Since 2016, the United States and the United Kingdom operated and manned a training facility in al-Tanf (the "Al Tanf Garrison"), with their special operations troops advising a Syrian rebel group known as the Revolutionary Commando Army.[36][37] The garrison was reinforced in May, and then expanded in June 2017, with more advanced US offensive weapons, including the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.[38][39][40][41] On a number of occasions, US forces struck advancing pro-government troops and militia in what US forces dubbed "self-defense strikes".[39]