 | This article has an unclear citation style .(September 2014) |
| Battle of Arsal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon and the Qalamoun offensive (June–August 2014) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Abu Hasan al-Homsi † [1] Abu Ahmed Jumaa (POW) [2] |  Samir Mouqbel General Jean Kahwaji Brig. General Chamel Roukoz Colonel Maroun al-Qobayati Colonel Nour al-Jamal † Colonel Dany Harb † | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Unknown | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 700 [3] | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 60 killed [4] | 20 killed, [4] [5] 85 wounded [6] and 49 captured (36 released, 13 executed) [7] [8] [9] | ||||||
| 42 [10] –50 [6] civilians killed | |||||||
On 2 August 2014, after Lebanese security forces arrested an al-Nusra Front commander, fighters from al-Nusra Front and ISIL surrounded Lebanese Army checkpoints in Arsal before attacking them and storming the northeastern town's police station, where they took at least 16 policemen hostage. [11] [12] The militants then proceeded to take control of the town, [13] and captured two soldiers who were freed by the military later in the day. [11] The fighting continued into the next day and left 30 militants, [14] 10 soldiers and two civilians dead. 25 soldiers were wounded and 13 were missing and presumed captured. [15] Two of the missing soldiers were rescued the same day. [16]
On 4 August, the death toll had risen to 17 soldiers, [17] 50 civilians and 50 militants. 86 soldiers had been wounded and the number of missing had reached 22, [6] while 135 civilians and 15 militants were wounded. [18] Two of the dead civilians were infant Syrian refugees. [19] The military had advanced and captured [6] the technical institute building, which was seized by the militants the previous day, [16] as the town came under heavy shell fire from multiple directions. [20] In the evening, the Army also managed to capture Ras al-Serj hill. [21]
On 5 August, the military was attempting to capture two government buildings, while three soldiers and three policemen were released by the militants. [21] During the day's fighting, the ISIL commander for the Arsal area was reportedly killed, [1] while al-Nusra forces retreated from the town. [22] In the evening, a 24-hour cease-fire started. [13]
On 6 August, another three soldiers were released, while 10 soldiers and 17 policemen remained as captives. [23]
By 7 August, a fragile truce was established as ISIL forces also retreated from the town and redeployed along the border with Syria. [2] [24] [10] Their hideouts there were subsequently bombed by the Syrian Air Force, resulting in dozens of wounded militants. On 22 July 2017 Hezbollah controlled 90% of Jroud arssal. [25]
Two days later, the Lebanese Army entered Arsal in full force and re-established control over checkpoints that the militants had previously seized, while another soldier died of his wounds, bringing the military death toll to 18, [26] which was updated to 19 by 12 August. 60 militants were also confirmed dead, [4] as well as 42 civilians. The total number of civilians wounded was estimated at 400. [10]
