The Syrian Republican Guard (SRG), also known as the Presidential Guard, was an elite 25,000 man praetorian guard unit in the Syrian Army prior to the fall of the Assad regime, and was reportedly at a corps size with around 60,000 guardsmen. It was composed of two mechanized divisions with its main purpose to protect the capital of Syria, Damascus, from any foreign or domestic threats. The Republican Guard was the only Syrian military unit allowed within the capital before the civil war. It was designed to defend the President as well as the major presidential and strategic institutions, including the presidential palaces.
The Deir ez-Zor Governorate campaign of the Syrian civil war consists of several battles and offensives fought across the governorate of Syria:
On 30 September 2015, Russia launched a military intervention in Syria after a request by the government of Bashar al-Assad for military support in its fight against the Syrian opposition and Islamic State (IS) in the Syrian civil war. The intervention was kick-started by extensive air strikes across Syria, focused on attacking opposition strongholds of the Free Syrian Army along with the rebel coalition of the Revolutionary Command Council and Sunni militant groups under the Army of Conquest coalition. In line with Syrian government propaganda which denounces all armed resistance to its rule as "terrorism"; Syrian military chief Ali Abdullah Ayoub depicted Russian airstrikes as facilitating their campaign against terrorism. Russian special operations forces, military advisors and private military contractors like the Wagner Group were also sent to Syria to support the Assad regime, which was on the verge of collapse. Prior to the intervention, Russian involvement had been heavily invested in providing Assad with diplomatic cover and propping up the Syrian Armed Forces with billions of dollars of arms and equipment. In December 2017, the Russian government announced that its troops would be deployed to Syria permanently.
The Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA), also known as Syrian Free Army (SFA), or the New Syrian Army (NSA), is a United States Army-trained Syrian opposition faction which controls territory near Syria's border with Iraq and Jordan and north into part of the country's eastern Hama governorate. It has been hosted at the US military base at al-Tanf.
The 25th Special Mission Forces Division, colloquially known by their former name Tiger Forces, is an elite special forces unit, that was part of the Syrian Army under the charge of the commander Major General Saleh Abdullah. It was formed in late 2013 and functions primarily as an offensive unit in the Syrian Civil War. It has been described as a "hot commodity for any government offensive", but their relatively small numbers make it difficult to deploy them to multiple fronts at once.
The Palmyra offensive was a military operation of the Syrian Arab Army, supported by Russian airstrikes, to recapture from the Islamic State the city of Tadmur, which was strategically important for both forces due to its position in central Syria. The city was fully recaptured on 27 March.
The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly known as the Special Operations Forces, are strategic-level special forces under the Special Operations Forces Command of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is also a structural and an independent unit of the Armed Forces.
The Battle of al-Qaryatayn (2016) was a military operation launched by Syrian government forces, supported by Russian airstrikes, to recapture the town of Al-Qaryatayn from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The town lies in a junction that connects the Iraqi border with Palmyra and from Palmyra through to Damascus; it fell to ISIL during the previous Battle of Al-Qaryatayn.
The September 2016 Deir ez-Zor air raid was a series of 37 U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes near the Deir ez-Zor Airport in eastern Syria on 17 September 2016, lasting from 3:55 p.m. to 4:56 p.m. Damascus time in which Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers were killed conducting operations against the Islamic State. Russia reported that at least 62 SAA soldiers were killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said at least 80 were killed and 120 wounded. The United States said that the intended target was Islamic State militants and that the attack on Syrian soldiers was due to a misidentification of ground forces while the Syrian and Russian governments claimed that it was an intentional attack against Syrian troops. The attack triggered "a diplomatic firestorm" with Russia calling an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting. Later, the Syrian government called off a ceasefire that had been the result of months of intense diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and Russian governments.
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. ISIL previously controlled the city from May 2015 until March 2016.
The Military Security Shield Forces, also called the Military Intelligence Shield Force or simply Military Shield, was a pro-government militia involved in the Syrian Civil War that was affiliated with the Military Intelligence Directorate.
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.
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 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 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 Qalamoun Shield Forces was a militia based in the Qalamoun Mountains that fought for the Ba'athist Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War prior to the government's collapse. Originally a small auxiliary and self-defense group, QSF grew into relatively large and well-equipped paramilitary force that operated nationwide. Led by Firas Jaz'ah, the Qalamoun Shield Forces were closely affiliated with the 3rd Armoured Division.
The Battle of Khasham, also known as the Battle of Conoco Fields, was a military engagement of the Syrian civil war fought on 7 February 2018 near the towns of Khasham and Al Tabiyeh in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria. The Operation Inherent Resolve coalition delivered air and artillery strikes on Syrian Armed Forces and pro-government militias after they reportedly engaged a U.S. military and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) position in the region.
The Syrian Desert campaign is a campaign waged by Syrian government forces and their allies, including Iran and Russia, against the remaining forces of the Islamic State (IS) in the Syrian Desert region.
The Wagner Group is a private military company (PMC) with ties to the Russian state under Vladimir Putin that has conducted operations in Syria since late 2015. Their presence in the country has been reported as late as 2021.
The 5th Assault Corps, also called the Fifth Legion, was an all-volunteer corps, formation of the Syrian Army involved in the Syrian Civil War fighting against the Syrian opposition, Tahrir al-Sham, Al-Qaeda in Syria, and ISIS. It was first formed in 2016. Unlike other corps in the Syrian Army, the 5th Corps was not divided into divisions, but commanded eleven brigades, as well as the actual number of serving soldiers was lower.
Syria 