2013 Latakia offensive

For other uses, see Latakia offensive (disambiguation).

2013 Latakia offensive
Part of the Syrian Civil War

The situation in the Latakia Governorate in August 2013
  Syrian Army control
  Opposition control
Date4–19 August 2013
(2 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Latakia Governorate, Syria
Result

Syrian Army victory

  • Rebel forces initially captured 13 villages[4]
  • Army counter-attack recaptures all of the villages[5]
  • Rebels killed at least 190 civilians and took more than 200 as hostages[6]
Belligerents

Al-Qaeda

Free Syrian Army[1] Syrian Islamic Front

Junud al-Sham[2]

Harakat Sham al-Islam[3]

Syria Syrian Arab Republic

Syrian Resistance
Commanders and leaders
Walid Aouss †
(Rejal Ahoudou Allah Leader)[7]
Kahtane Haaj Mohammed †
(al-Tawhid Brigade Commander)[8]
Ans Chyghani †
(Al Izzatullah wal nasr minAllah Brigade Commander)[9]
Abu Moaz[1]
(Ahrar al-Sham Commander)
Abu Mustafa[1]
(Ansar al-Din Commander)
Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani[2]
(Junud al-Sham Commander)
Abu al-Hassan Ammar †
(FSA spokesman)[10]		 Hilal al-Assad
(Latakia NDF commander)[11]
Nizar al-Khatib †
(Tartus NDF commander)[12]
Mihrac Ural
(Syrian Resistance Commander)
Units involved
Suqour al-Ezz[1][13][14]
Liwa al-Mujahideen[14]
Kataib Ansar al-Sham[13]
Harakat Sham al-Islam[14]
Katibat al Muhajiroon[1]
Ahrar ash-Sham[1]
Ansar al-Din Front[1]
Junud al-Sham[2]

1st Armoured Division

  • 58th Mechanized Brigade

3rd Armoured Division

  • 47th Armoured Brigade
Syrian Air Force
Strength

1,500–2,000 fighters[15]

  • 1,500 ISIL fighters[16]
 5,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
107 fighters killed[17]
(up until Army counter-attack)		 114–127 soldiers[18] and 44 militiamen killed[6]
190–205 civilians killed[6]

The 2013 Latakia offensive (called The Descendants of Aisha, Mother of the Believers by Salafist jihadists,[19] and the Operation Liberation of the Coast[14] by the Free Syrian Army and its supporters) was a campaign during the Syrian Civil War launched by rebel groups led by Salafi jihadists[14] in the Latakia Governorate. The stated aim of the offensive was to conquer al-Haffah city, but government supporters assumed conquering Mount Nabi Younes was more likely the real aim.[4] A calculated side effect may have been to spark more sectarian violence in Syria[15] by carrying out a sectarian attack on an Alawite-majority area.[19] The offensive began in early August 2013. During the campaign, rebel forces captured a dozen villages.[4] However, in mid-August, the military counter-attacked and recaptured all of the territory previously lost to the rebels.[5][20]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Inside the battle for Assad's heartland . Abouzeid, Rania. Al-Jazeera. 23 August 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Сирия Латакия Сопка Дурин. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Former Guantanamo detainee killed while leading jihadist group in Syria". 4 April 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Monitor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b "Syrian rebel fighters guilty of serious abuses, says Human Rights Watch". CNN. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference HRW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "‫تنسيقية #اللاذقية : استشهاد المجاهد وليد أوسي... - تنسيقية الثورة ال…". Facebook. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  9. ^ "‫تنسيقية #اللاذقية : استشهاد القائد الميداني أنس... - تنسيقية الثورة …". Facebook. Archived from the original on 8 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Syria: Islamists advance towards Assad bastion of Latakia". The Majalla Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  12. ^ "استشهاد قائد مركز الدفاع الوطني في طرطوس - طرطوس اليوم". Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Decoder: The Battle for Latakia Begins". Archived from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Regime Regains Ground on the Coast". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Latakia offensive inflames Syria's sectarian wounds". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  16. ^ Anne Barnard; Hwaida Saad (5 August 2013). "Rebels Gain Control of Government Air Base in Syria". The New York Times.
  17. ^ 60 killed (4–5 August),[1] 1 killed (6 August),[2] 4 killed (7 August),[3] 12 killed (8 August),[4] 10 killed (9 August),[5] 4 killed (10 August),[6] 9 killed (11 August),[7] 10 killed (12 August),[8] 1 killed (13 August),[9] total of 107 reported killed
  18. ^ 17 [10]–30 "Human Rights Watch | Defending Human Rights Worldwide". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-11. killed (4 August), 5 killed (5 August),[11] 10 killed (7 August),[12] 13 killed (8 August),[13] 9 killed (9 August),[14] 10 killed (10 August),[15] 8 killed (11 August),[16] 5 killed (12 August),[17] 3 killed (14 August),[18] 3 killed (15 August),[19] 12 killed (16 August),[20] 8 killed (17 August),[21] 6 killed (18 August),[22] 5 killed (19 August),[23] total of 114–127 reported killed
  19. ^ a b "Syrian jihadists move war to Alawite stronghold". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference pushback was invoked but never defined (see the help page).