Siege of Homs

Siege of Homs
Part of the Syrian Civil War

Map of the frontline shifts from February 2012 to January 2017
  Syrian Arab Army control
  Opposition control (Insurgents [])
Date6 May 2011 – 9 May 2014[a]
(3 years and 3 days)
Location
Homs, Syria
34°43′51″N 36°42′34″E / 34.73083°N 36.70944°E / 34.73083; 36.70944
Result

Syrian Government Victory[5]

  • Syrian Army recaptures Homs
Belligerents
Syrian opposition Free Syrian Army[N 1]
Islamic Front
Al-Nusra Front

Syria Syrian Arab Republic

Hezbollah[2]

SSNP[3]
 Russia [4]
Commanders and leaders

Abdul Qadir al-Homsi †
(FSA provincial commander)[6]
Khadar Al Halouani †
(FSA Homs city commander)
Col. Fatih Fahd Hasoon
(FSA provincial Military Council leader)[7]
Lt. Abdul Razzaq Tlass (Farouq Brigades Commander; until October 2012)[8]
Lt. Abu Sayeh Juneidi (Farouq Brigades Commander; since October 2012)[8]
Abdul Rahman Orfalli †
(protest leader)[9]
Mohammed al-Sukni (Liwaa Al-Umma Commander)[10]
Abdelbasset Saroot (WIA)
(Bayyada Martyrs Battalion commander)[11]
Ahmad Hassan Abou Assaad al-Sharkassi †
(Bayyada Martyrs Battalion commander)[12]
Abou Souffiane †
(Ahl Al Athar Brigade commander)

Sheikh Abu Rateb
(Liwa al-Haqq commander)
Abu Mohammad al-Julani
(Al Nusra commander)		 Gen. Maher al-Assad
(since February 2012)[13]
Gen. Ghassan Afif[14]             
Gen. Mohamed Maaruf[15]
Gen. Abdo al-Tallawi †[16]
Gen. Nizar al-Hussein †[17]
Units involved

Free Syrian Army:

Islamic Front:

Elements of:

Other units:

  • 45th independent SF Regiment
  • 47th independent SF Regiment
  • 53rd independent SF Regiment
  • 54th independent SF Regiment[20]
  • Unit 910 (Hezbollah)[2]
Strength
Unknown 6,000–10,000 troops[21]
200–300 tanks[22]
Casualties and losses
2,000[23]–2,200[24] killed (June 2012–May 2014)
5,000–6,000 captured[25]
(by late July 2012)		 859 soldiers and policemen killed (by mid-Feb. 2012)[26]
a The siege of the rebel-held Waer district continued until 21 May 2017, when the rebels evacuated the area.

The siege of Homs was a military confrontation between the Syrian military and the Syrian opposition in the city of Homs, a major rebel stronghold during the Syrian Civil War. The siege lasted three years from May 2011 to May 2014, and ultimately resulted in an opposition withdrawal from the city.[5]

Nationwide anti-government protests began in March 2011, and clashes between security forces and protestors in Homs intensified in April.[27] In early May 2011, the Syrian military conducted a crackdown against anti-government protesters in Homs, some of whom were armed and fired on security forces.[28] Though government forces had succeeded in temporarily quelling the March–April Daraa protests during a similar military operation, their early May operation in Homs failed in quickly subduing the civil resistance.[27] By September, sectarian clashes and bloodshed in Homs between Alawites and Sunnis played a larger role in the Homs unrest than in the rest of Syria.[29]

In late October 2011, a Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigade consisting of many defected army officers repeatedly ambushed government security forces around the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs[30] and, through early November, successfully defended it from government counterattacks.[31] In late December, an Arab mission was sent to monitor the situation following an Arab League plan to dissuade the government crackdown.[32] Following the abortive mission, the Syrian Army in February 2012 launched an offensive against Baba Amr, shelling the entire district and blocking all supply routes. In early March, government forces launched a ground assault into Baba Amr, forcing the rebels to withdraw from the neighborhood.[33]

By early May 2012, following a United Nations-brokered ceasefire, only sporadic street fighting and shelling occurred. During this time, the government was in control of most of the city while the opposition held between 15% and 20% of it; fighting for control of a similar-sized area was still ongoing.[34] In December 2012, the Syrian Army captured the district of Deir Baalba, leaving only the Old City, Khalidiya district, and a few other areas under rebel control.[35]

In early March 2013, government forces launched an assault into several opposition-controlled neighborhoods, but the rebels–reinforced by units that arrived from the nearby rebel-controlled town of al-Qusayr–repelled the attacks.[35] In mid-March, rebels attempted to retake Baba Amr but were forced to pull back later in the month.[36] In late March and early April, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia fully intervened in the siege, reinforcing Syrian government forces.[35] In late July, government forces captured the Khalidiya district.[37]

In early May 2014, following an agreement reached between the government and the opposition, rebel forces were allowed to evacuate the city, leaving Homs under full government control.[5]


Cite error: There are <ref group=N> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=N}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Syria's President ends state of emergency". Buenos Aires Herald. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Iran's Hizbullah sends more troops to help Assad storm Aleppo, fight Sunnis". World Tribune. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  3. ^ "The SSNP 'Hurricane' in the Syrian Conflict: Syria and South Lebanon Are the Same Battlefield". Al Akhbar English. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  4. ^ Petkova, Mariya. "What has Russia gained from five years of fighting in Syria?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Retreat from Homs: Assad conquers cradle of revolution". The Times. United Kingdom of god. 2014.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference 30rebels was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Syrian rebels form 'Revolutionary Military Council' in Homs". English.alarabiya.net. 3 September 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  8. ^ a b Lund, Aron (5 October 2012). "Holy Warriors". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  9. ^ "Rights group cites Syrian opposition for 'serious human rights abuses'". CNN. 21 March 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  10. ^ "The Syrian Rebels' Libyan Weapon". Foreign Policy. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  11. ^ "Who's who: Abdulbaset Sarout". Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  12. ^ L’ASL annonce des bataille de libération de Hama et Maarat al-Numan, à défaut de les remporter pendant que le Front al-Nosra part en guerre contre les Druzes Archived 31 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Syria sends elite troops to Homs, activists say". NOW Lebanon. 28 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  14. ^ "By All Means Necessary!". Human Rights Watch. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  15. ^ "COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 55/2012". Official Journal of the European Union. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  16. ^ Sharmine Narwani (28 February 2012). "Questioning the Syrian "Casualty List"". Alakhbar. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  17. ^ "الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء - Syrian Arab News Agency". Archived from the original on 8 June 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  18. ^ Syria: The Devastated Battlefield Of Homs Archived 8 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Ivan Watson and Omar al Muqdad (7 February 2012). "Syrian rebel leadership is split". CNN. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  20. ^ http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/TheAssadRegime-web.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  21. ^ "Syria's looming threat of civil war". Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  22. ^ "Inside Syria's Death Zone: Assad's Regime Hunts People in Homs". Der Spiegel. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  23. ^ "Rebel exodus from Old Homs marks end of two-year siege". The Daily Star. 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  24. ^ "Syria rebels in final retreat from heart of Homs". Maan News Agency. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  25. ^ "Reports of a riot in Homs prison". Al Jazeera Blogs. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  26. ^ Sly, Liz (25 January 2012). "Fears of escalating violence in divided city of Homs as Syria rejects Arab League plan". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  27. ^ a b "Struggle for Syria" (PDF). ISW. December 2011.
  28. ^ Shadid, Anthony (7 May 2011). "Protests Across Syria Despite Military Presence". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISW2011,page17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISW 2012,p13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ^ Cite error: The named reference ISW 2012,p17-19 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  32. ^ The Independent, 'Arab league observers arrive in Syria to monitor crackdown', 27 December 2011 [1]
  33. ^ "Syria's Armed Opposition" (PDF). ISW. March 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2012.
  34. ^ "Homs: A scarred and divided city". BBC News. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  35. ^ a b c "SYRIA UPDATE: THE FALL OF AL-QUSAYR". ISW. June 2013.
  36. ^ "Syrian forces take back rebel neighborhood in Homs". Yahoo News. 26 March 2013.
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference tours was invoked but never defined (see the help page).