Battle of Zahleh

Siege of Zahleh
معركة زحلة
Part of the Lebanese Civil War

Town of Zahle. The battle took place in the mountains surrounding the town and the roads leading to it.
DateDecember 22, 1980 – June 30, 1981[2] (6 months and 8 days)
Location
Zahlé, Lebanon
Result Lebanese Forces strategic victory
Belligerents
Lebanese Forces

Arab Deterrent Force

Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization

Hannache Group[1]
Commanders and leaders
Bachir Gemayel Hafez Al Assad
Elias Hannache
Units involved

Lebanese Forces:

  • Al Wahdat el-Markaziya (Special LF Central Units)[3]
  • ISF (Internal Security Forces)[4]
  • Zahlawi Local Resistance groups[4]

Syrian Army Forces:[5]

  • 35th Brigade (Special Forces)
  • 41st Brigade (Special Forces)
  • 47th Brigade (Mechanized Infantry)
  • 51st Brigade (Ind. Armored)
  • 62nd Brigade (Mechanized Infantry)
  • 67th Brigade
  • 85th Brigade
  • 78th Brigade

Palestine Liberation Organization:[6]

  • al-Yarmouk Faction
  • al-Kostol Faction
Casualties and losses
est. 200 killed
200 wounded
Total: 400 casualties[7]		 est. 300 killed
400 wounded
32 tanks and Armored personnel carrier
Total: 700 casualties[8]
200 civilians killed and 2,000 wounded[9]

The Battle of Zahleh (Arabic: معركة زحلة) was a battle in the Lebanese Civil War that took place between December 1980 and June 1981. During the seven-month period, the city of Zahle endured a handful of political and military setbacks. The opposing key players were on the one side, the Lebanese Forces (LF) aided by Zahlawi townspeople, and on the other side, the Syrian Armed Forces, then part of the peace-keeping Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) aided by some Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) factions.[10] Demographically, Zahleh is one of the largest predominantly Christian towns in Lebanon.[11] Adjacent to the town's outskirts, the Bekaa valley, spanning the length of the Syrian borders. Given Zahleh's close proximity to the Bekaa Valley, the Syrian Armed Forces feared a potential alliance between Israel and the LF in Zahleh. This potential alliance would not only threaten the Syrian military presence in the Bekaa valley, but was regarded as a national security threat from the Syrians' point of view, given the close proximity between Zahleh and the Beirut-Damascus highway.[12] Consequently, as a clamp-down strategy, the Syrian forces controlled the major roads leading in and out of the city and fortified the entire Valley. Around December 1980, tension increased between Zahlawi Lebanese Forces and Syrian-backed Leftist militants. From April to June 1981, throughout the four-month period, a handful of LF members, aided by Zahlawi Local Resistance, confronted the Syrian war machine and defended the city from Syrian intrusion and potential invasion.

  1. ^ Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory.
  2. ^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–170.
  3. ^ Abou Nade, Fouad. "On Battle of Zahleh". YouTube video. michel10452. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  4. ^ a b Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory. p. 10.
  5. ^ Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory. p. 11.
  6. ^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.
  7. ^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. p. 171.
  8. ^ Choueifaty, Clovis (2010). The Battles of Syria In Lebanon Vol 2. self-published. p. 166.
  9. ^ "Lebanon's Legacy of Political Violence" (PDF). www.ictj.org. September 2023.
  10. ^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.
  11. ^ Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory.
  12. ^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.