Battle of Markada

Battle of Markada
Part of inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War
Date21–31 March 2014
(1 week and 3 days)
Location
Markada, Syria
Result

ISIL victory

  • ISIL captures Markada on 29 March[2]
Belligerents
al Nusra Front

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

Katiba al-Bittar al-Libi
Commanders and leaders
Abu Mohammad al-Julani
(Leader of the Al-Nusra Front)		 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
(Leader of ISIL)
Omar al-Farouk al-Turki †
(Top provincial ISIL commander)[2]
Casualties and losses
120 killed[3]

The Battle of Markada (also spelled "Markadah" or "Markadahin")[4] was a military confrontation between two jihadist groups, al Qaeda's al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), over the town of Markada in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, in March 2014 during the Syrian civil war.[3] The strategic importance of the town to the ISIL lay in its position on the group's weapons supply route from Iraq, the road linking Al-Hasakah with Deir ez-Zor and a hill that dominates the surrounding area.[5] On the ISIL side there were many Sunni Iranians, including Kurds, who played an important role in the battle.[6]

  1. ^ Nance (2016), pp. 54–55.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference seizes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference keypost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Nance (2016), p. 55.
  5. ^ "At least 52 dead fighters from the front and the victory of the Islamic State". Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  6. ^ A history of support for Kurdish extremists comes back to haunt Tehran