| Part of a series on the Syrian civil war |
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The 2015 Zabadani ceasefire agreement between Syrian opposition forces and the Syrian Armed Forces was achieved on 24 September 2015, with mediation from the United Nations, following the Battle of Zabadani (2015). The agreement was fulfilled in April 2017. [1]
On 24 September 2015, more than 2 months after the Battle of Zabadani (2015) began, the UN announced that an agreement between the warring parties had finally been reached after repeated mediation efforts. Per the agreement, the remaining entrenched rebels are to withdraw from the Syrian government-besieged Zabadani and control of the town to the Syrian government while surrendering all weapons, save for light handguns, and withdrawing to the Idlib Governorate. Conversely, civilians (approximately 10,000 people) still remaining inside the rebel-besieged Shia villages of Fu'ah and Kefriya are to be evacuated. Control of the villages would not be surrendered to the rebels; however, as approximately 4,000 pro-government troops would remain in the villages. The plan was expected to take 6 months to be fully implemented, during which time extended ceasefires are expected to be upheld in each respective area. Evacuation of wounded from both sides was expected to begin as early as 25 September 2015. An additional stipulation denotes the release of 500 rebel captives from Syrian government-held prisons. The agreement would be overseen by the United Nations office in Damascus. [2] [3] [4]
On 26 September 2015, the first bus transport evacuating the rebel combatants to Idlib began leaving al-Zabadani. [5]
After the implementation of the ceasefire, the besieging Hezbollah and the Syrian Army troops redirected their attention towards the remaining parts of the Qalamoun Mountains still under rebel control, namely a smaller area in the Jaroud Rankous, located in southern Qalamoun, and larger area located in Jaroud Qarah, in northern Qalamoun. The Hezbollah also set itself out to recapture the Lebanese border-district of Arsal, from where the al-Nusra Front and ISIL have been receiving much of its reinforcement into the Qalamoun Mountains. [6] However, on 10 October, the truce was jeopardized by rebel groups, claiming the truce had been made "irrelevant" following the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War. [7]
On 28 December, 120 rebels and civilians from Zabadani were transported to Lebanon in return for the evacuation of 300 pro-government troops and civilians from Fuah and Kefraya to Turkey. According to the ceasefire agreement, those from Zabadani will proceed to Turkey through Lebanon while those from Fuah and Kefraya will arrive in government-held Syria through Lebanon and Turkey. [8]
A year later on 25 September 2016, 52 aid trucks went to Zabadani and Madaya and 19 arrived in Fuah and Kefraya. [9] A week before on 18 September, Hezbollah and the Syrian Army destroyed a rebel smuggling tunnel near Zabadani containing rockets, mortar shells, and other weapons and ammunition. [10]
On 23 November 2016, government forces launched mortar shells and sniper fire into Zabadani and Madaya, which killed 2 civilians. [11]
On February 21, 2017, Rebel forces evacuated from the town of Serghaya. [12]
On 28 March 2017, an agreement was brokered by Qatar and Iran for the evacuation of those living in Fu'ah and Kafriya in exchange for the evacuation of residents and rebels in Zabadani and Madaya. [13] The agreement came under effect beginning on 12 April and buses and ambulances arrived in the four towns with the assistance of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to begin the evacuations. [14] On 14 April, 60 buses transported 2,350 people, including 400 rebels, from Madaya and Zabadani to Idlib. [15] After being suspended for several days following a suicide bombing of buses carrying refugees, the first phase of the evacuations was completed on 19 April, with further transports planned for June. [16] A total of 30,000 people are to be relocated by the end of the operation. [16]
Madaya is a small mountainous town in Syria, located at an altitude of around 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). It is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of Damascus in the Rif Dimashq Governorate. Madaya often is snow-top during the winter months especially on January and February. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Madaya had a population of 9,371 in the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Madaya is home to a large illegal market home to foreign brands that are smuggled in from Lebanon's Chtaura, which is close to the area.
Al-Fu'ah is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northeast of Idlib. Nearby localities include Kafriya to the west, Maarrat Misrin to the northwest, Zardana to the north, Taftanaz to the northeast, Ta'um to the east and Binnish and Sarmin to the south. The plain surrounding al-Fu'ah is well known for growing olives and figs.
Kafriya is a village in northern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located northwest of Idlib. Nearby localities include Maarrat Misrin to the north, Zardana to the northeast, Taftanaz to the east and al-Fu'ah and Binnish to the immediate south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Kafriya had a population of 4,404 in the 2004 census. Like nearby al-Fu'ah, Kafriya's inhabitants were predominantly Shia Muslims, while the surrounding areas are predominantly Sunni Muslim.
The Qalamoun offensive (2014) was launched by the Syrian Army, in coordination with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, during the Syrian Civil War against remnant rebel forces following the previous Battle of Qalamoun which resulted in the military securing all of the towns in the region.
The Sham Liberation Army, originally called the Sham Liberation Brigade, is an armed rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War. It was founded and is led by Firas Bitar, a captain who defected from the Syrian Arab Army in 2012. Until 2016, its sole opponent was the Syrian Armed Forces and its allied militias; it rejected any fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant until ISIL attacked its fighters in February 2016.
The Battle of Idlib was a military operation in the Idlib Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War, conducted by rebels against Syrian government forces defending Idlib city.
The Qalamoun offensive was an offensive led by the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah, supported by the Syrian Army, during the Syrian Civil War, against the al-Nusra Front and other Syrian opposition forces entrenched in the mountains of the Qalamoun region.
The Battle of Zabadani (2015) started in early July 2015, during the Syrian Civil War, as a military offensive launched by the Syrian Army, and Hezbollah to capture the rebel-held town of Al-Zabadani.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from August to December 2015. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The siege of al-Fu'ah and Kefriya was a siege of the towns of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya in the Idlib Governorate, towns with majority Shia populations and controlled by the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war. The siege began with a Sunni Islamist rebel assault on the capital of the province in March 2015, resulting in the capture of Idlib. On 18 July 2018, the besieged government forces reached an agreement with Tahrir al-Sham-led rebels to evacuate them and civilians from the two towns.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from September to December 2016. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The Aleppo offensive , code named Operation Dawn of Victory by government forces, was a successful military offensive launched by the Syrian Armed Forces and allied groups against rebel-held districts in Aleppo. The offensive came after the end of the moratorium on air strikes by Russia, and the Russian Armed Forces again conducted heavy air and cruise missile strikes against rebel positions throughout northwestern Syria. The offensive resulted in government forces taking control of all rebel-controlled parts of eastern and southern Aleppo, and the evacuation of the remaining rebel forces.
The Wadi Barada offensive (2016–2017) was a military operation against rebel-held villages in the Barada River valley by the Syrian Army and allied forces, including pro-government militias and Lebanese Hezbollah between December 2016 and January 2017. The Barada River valley includes the village of Ain al-Fijah which holds a water spring that provides drinking water to towns throughout the Rif Dimashq Governorate.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to April 2017. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
On 15 April 2017, a car bomb detonated near a convoy of buses in the al-Rashideen neighbourhood of western Aleppo, Syria. The buses carried civilian evacuees from the besieged government-controlled towns of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya and were guarded by rebel fighters. The bombing killed at least 126 people including at least 80 children.
The 2015 Qatari hunters kidnapping set off a hostage crisis of nearly a year and a half in Iraq and involved negotiations and deals between many neighboring states. On Wednesday 16 December 2015, at about 3:00am local time, a party of 28 Qatari hunters, including members of the ruling royal House of Thani, were taken hostage in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq, in the desert area of Busaya not far from the border with Saudi Arabia. The Qataris remained in the hands of their kidnappers until 2017, when a deal in Syria and the payment of a ransom led to their release.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from May to August 2017. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The Qalamoun offensive (2017) was a military operation launched by Hezbollah, the Syrian Armed Forces, and later the Lebanese Armed Forces, against members of Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the Lebanon–Syria border. The Lebanese Army denied any coordination with Hezbollah or the Syrian Arab Army.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from September to December 2017. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The Southern Damascus offensive began on 5 January 2018 as Jaysh al-Islam fighters attempted to infiltrate ISIL positions within the orchards situated in-between Yalda and Hajjar As-Aswad to the immediate south of Damascus city. This resulted in numerous casualties and as such, a week later, on 12 January ISIL shock troops launched a counter-assault on Yalda's Zein neighborhood, triggering heavy clashes, resulting in the eventual capture of several buildings in the area. On 22 January, ISIL made further progress in Taqdam Neighborhood of Hajjar al-Aswad, to this date ISIL ended up controlling 3/4 of Yarmouk Camp, majority of Hajjar al-Aswad, Qadam, Tadamon and large part of Yalda's eastern axis. Fighting continued with ISIL forces continuing their advance against other militant groups later into January, with majority of a street between Yalda and Babbila as well as some gains within the district of Tadamon. By 27 January, ISIL controlled almost the entirety of Hajjar al-Aswad after breaking through the last lines of defense and were on the verge of entering the town of Yalda, during the same time, further areas were also captured in the Yarmouk district.
