2017 Euphrates Crossing offensive | |||||||
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Part of the Eastern Syria campaign and the Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war | |||||||
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![]() (Operations chief commander) ![]() (104th Airborne Brigade of Republican Guard) ![]() (Syrian 5th Corps commander) [5] | ![]() | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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The 2017 Euphrates Crossing offensive was a military offensive launched by the Syrian Arab Army against members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, following the breaking of the three-year siege of the city of Deir ez-Zor. The Euphrates Crossing offensive, conducted by government troops, was done with the aim of denying US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and the US itself leverage over the Syrian government. [12]
The offensive was concurrent with the two SDF offensives, the Battle of Raqqa and the northern Deir ez-Zor offensive, as well the Hawija Offensive in Iraq.
Protests against the Syrian government and violence in the Syrian city Deir ez-Zor took place since March 2011, but large-scale fighting began in late November 2011, in order for the rebels to take control of the eastern part of Syria. By the end of 2013, rebels took over most of the province, leaving only a small pocket of government control in and around the city of Deir ez-Zor.
Following the expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant in late 2013 and early 2014, ISIL forces launched a major offensive against the rebels in the province and the city of Deir Ez-Zor, pushing out rebel forces and besieging government troops in Deir ez-Zory city. For more than three years, the Syrian Arab Army managed to keep control of the western half of the city, while ISIL was in control of the entire eastern side of the city. During this time ISIL launched several offensives to capture the remaining parts of the city with limited gains.
On 27 August, as part of a wider campaign in central Syria against ISIL, the Syrian Arab Army, launched a major offensive against the city of Deir ez-Zor in an attempt to break the siege. On 3 September, pro-government forces broke through to the city's first lines of defense around 10 pm. Two days later, the siege was broken. Soon after, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an offensive on ISIL positions east of the Euphrates River on 8 September, with US and Kurd officials announcing they would not allow the Syrian Arab Army to descend across the Euphrates. Meanwhile, on 10 September, the Syrian Arab Army broke the siege of the Deir ez-Zor military airport, after which they pushed to the south. Concurrently the SDF broke through to the outskirts of the city on the other side of the Euphrates and occupied the industrial zone and the main road. On 11 September, the Syrian Arab Army and the pro-government media announced the beginning of an offensive and amphibious landing over the Euphrates River, beginning with the installation of pontoon bridges and amphibians. The announcement in the pro-government media was that the military operation would be called the Assad's jump on the occasion of the birthday of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. On 15 September, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced the beginning of an army offensive across the Euphrates River, and a day later [13] the Russian air force bombed the positions of the SDF northeast of Deir ez-Zor. Elsewhere, pro-government forces, with the support of Russian air strikes, launched operations against Deir ez-Zor city's northwestern district. [14] The same day, the Syrian government announced the start of an offensive on Al-Bukamal and the complete closure of the border with Iraq. [15]
On 18 September, pro-government forces crossed the Euphrates River [16] using makeshift bridges, and launched an offensive on the east bank of the city of Deir ez-Zor, advancing within 3 miles (5 km) of positions held by the SDF. [17] The next day, the SAA said that pro-government forces continued to advance on the east bank of the Euphrates, including an assault against al-Sabah village. [18]
On 20 September, the Russian Defense Ministry accused the US-backed SDF of assisting ISIL in East Deir Ez-Zor in various ways in an attempt to prevent the Syrian army and its paramilitaries from capturing the region. Russian General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Ministry, noted that the strongest ISIL counter-attacks and artillery shelling on the Syrian Army bridge on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River came from the north where the US and Kurdish forces hold positions, not from the south where most ISIL forces were. The Russian general accused the US Coalition of other acts of sabotage against the forces of the Syrian army. [19] US denied complicity with ISIS.[ citation needed ]
On 21 September, ISIL released video appearing to show it was deploying armed drones to prevent the SAA from expanding its positions on the east coast of Deir ez-Zor. ISIS opened fire on the Syrian army, but the army did not report any losses. [20] Meanwhile, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) continued its march along the east coast of the Euphrates River, capturing a new town located near the strategic Al-'Omar's oil fields after fierce clashes with ISIS members. With the support of heavy artillery from the 113th and 137th Brigades of the 17th Division, the 5th Legion of the Syrian Arab Army reported it had overcome the positions of the ISIS east of the recently captured al-Marat in order to advance to Mazloum. [8] The 4th Mechanized Division and the 5th Legion began an advance south of Mazloum towards Khasham. [21] [22]
On 5 October, units of the 4th Armoured Division crossed the Euphrates. [23] On 16 October, Syrian army captured town of al-Husayniyah on the other side of Euphrates from Deir ez-Zor after full day of clashes with ISIL fighters. [24] The next day, the town of Janenah was also captured. [25]
On 18 October, Major General Issam Zahreddine, the commander of 104th Airborne Brigade of the Republican Guard who lead the Syrian Army during the three-year siege of Deir ez-Zor, was killed by a land mine in Saqr Island within Euphrates river. [26] [27]
Syrian Army captured southern parts of Deir ez-Zor industrial area, including paper factory and construction zone, north of village of Al-Salhiyah in the morning of 20 October. [28] The next morning, two settlements were captured by the Syrian Army. [29]
The Syrian Army began operations to recapture the city of Deir ez-Zor on 17 October and by 3 November, government forces completely captured the city.
Abu Kamal or Al-Bukamal is a city on the Euphrates river in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of eastern Syria near the border with Iraq. It is the administrative centre of the Abu Kamal District and the local subdistrict. Just to the south-east is the Al-Qa'im border crossing to the town of Husaybah in the Al-Qa'im District of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate.
Deir ez-Zor Airport is an airport serving Deir ez-Zor, a city in northeastern Syria.
Hajin is a small city in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, located along the Euphrates River, south of Deir ez-Zor. Nearby localities include al-Abbas to the west, al-Ramadi to the south and Gharanij to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Hajin had a population of 37,935 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") of the Abu Kamal District. The Hajin subdistrict consists of four towns which had a collective population of 97,970 in 2004. The al-Shaitat tribe is the largest tribe in the area. The town was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces on 14 December 2018 in the Battle of Hajin, after a week and a half of heavy clashes and intense airstrikes by the United States-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve international coalition, and has since been part of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
Al-Salihiyah is a town in eastern Syria, administratively part of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, located on the western bank of the Euphrates River, south of Deir ez-Zor. Nearby localities include al-Asharah, Mayadin and al-Muhasan to the north and Hajin and al-Jalaa to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Salihiyah had a population of 4,471 in the 2004 census. The village is located just next to the site of ancient Dura-Europos.
The Deir ez-Zor offensive was a military operation launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the Deir ez-Zor air base and the surrounding areas.
The Deir ez-Zor offensive (2016) was an ISIL military operation, during which it took over the northern suburbs of Deir ez-Zor on 16 January 2016, and killed from 135 to 300 people, while also kidnapping about 400 others.
The Deir ez-Zor offensive was a military operation launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against the Syrian Armed Forces, to capture the city of Deir ez-Zor, on 14 January 2017. The offensive came amid the group losing large amounts of territory in the Raqqa offensive as well as the Turkish military intervention in Syria, while Iraqi forces were advancing in its Iraq headquarters in Mosul. It ended with the city being split into two parts.
The siege of Deir ez-Zor was a large-scale siege imposed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against several districts in the city of Deir ez-Zor held by the Syrian Army, in an attempt to capture the city and secure full control of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The ISIL siege of the city lasted for almost 3 years and 2 months, after which the Syrian Army launched a successful offensive that fully recaptured the city nine weeks later.
The East Aleppo offensive (2017), also referred to as the Dayr Hafir offensive, was an operation launched by the Syrian Army to prevent Turkish-backed rebel forces from advancing deeper into Syria, and also to ultimately capture the ISIL stronghold of Dayr Hafir. Another aim of the operation was to gain control of the water source for Aleppo city, at the Khafsa Water Treatment Plant, in addition to capturing the Jirah Military Airbase. At the same time, the Turkish-backed rebel groups turned towards the east and started launching attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces, west of Manbij.
The Syrian Desert campaign 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. 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.
The Central Syria campaign, known as "Operation Khuzam", or "Lavender", was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army (SAA) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Syrian Civil War. Its goal was to capture the strategic oil town of Al-Sukhnah, and besiege and capture 11,000 square kilometers of ISIL territory in central Syria, after which the Syrian Army would advance towards Deir ez-Zor, and lift the three-year ISIL siege of the government's enclave in the city. Afterwards, the Syrian Army advanced towards the Islamic State's then-capital of Mayadin.
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 Deir ez-Zor campaign, codenamed the al-Jazeera Storm campaign, was a military operation launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate in 2017 during the Syrian Civil War with the goal of capturing territory in eastern Syria, particularly east and north of the Euphrates river. The U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) anti-ISIL coalition provided extensive air support while SDF personnel composed the majority of the ground forces; OIR special forces and artillery units were also involved in the campaign.
The 2017 Mayadin offensive was a military offensive launched by the Syrian Arab Army against members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, following the breaking of the three-year siege of the city of Deir ez-Zor. The Mayadin offensive, conducted by Syrian Army troops, was conducted with the aim of capturing ISIL's new de facto capital of Mayadin, and securing the villages and towns around it.
The Deir ez-Zor offensive was a military operation launched by the Syrian Armed Forces to completely expel the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the city of Deir ez-Zor, a provincial capital, located on the banks of the Euphrates river. From 2014 until 2017, the city had been divided into Syrian government and ISIL-controlled halves. The rest of the Governorate (province) was under ISIL control for most of this time, putting the government-controlled half of the city under siege.
Ma'adan is a Syrian town in Raqqa District, Raqqa. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ma'adan had a population of 8,663 in the 2004 census.
The 2017 Abu Kamal offensive, codenamed Operation Fajr-3, was a military offensive launched by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies against members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The aim of the offensive was to capture ISIL's last urban stronghold in Syria, the border town of Abu Kamal. This offensive was a part of the larger Eastern Syria campaign.
The Eastern Syria campaign of September–December 2017 was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army (SAA) and its allies against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Syrian Civil War. Its goal was to clear the city of Deir ez-Zor of any remaining ISIL forces, capture ISIL's de facto capital of Mayadin, as well as seize the border town of Abu Kamal, which became one of ISIL's final urban strongholds by the latter stages of the campaign.
Al-Marashidah is a Syrian town located in Abu Kamal District, Deir ez-Zor. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Al-Marashidah had a population of 4,346 in the 2004 census.
On 29 April 2018, clashes took place between Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.