Battle of al-Bab (2016)

Battle of al-Bab Part of the Turkish military intervention in Syria Map of the wider Turkish-led operations and the wider campaigns in northern Aleppo   Syrian Armed Forces & allied groups   Syrian Democratic Forces   Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant   FSA groups and Turkish troops in Northern Syria Date 6 November 2016 – present (4 weeks) Location Al-Bab District, Aleppo Governorate, Syria Status Ongoing FSA capture 36 villages from ISIL and 4 villages from the SDF[1][2][3] SDF capture 17 villages, including Arima from ISIL[4][5][6][7] Pro-government forces capture 5 villages from ISIL and FSA[8][9] Belligerents Free Syrian Army  Turkey  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Syrian Democratic Forces Al-Bab Military Council Manbij Military Council[10] Syrian National Resistance[11] Syrian Arab Republic[11] Syrian Armed Forces Support: Russia Commanders and leaders Lt. Gen. Zekai Aksakallı[12] (Operations chief commander) Lt. Gen. İsmail Metin Temel[13][14] (Second Army commander) Col. Ahmed Othman[15] (Sultan Murad Division commander) Fehim İsa (Sultan Murad Division commander)[16] Mahmoud Abu Hamza[17] (Descendants of Saladin Brigade commander) Capt. Yussuf Shibli[18] (Qabasin Military Council commander) Capt. Abdel Salam Abdel Razaq[17] (Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement commander) Capt. Mohammed Abu Mustafa[19] (Sham Legion commander) Abu Jafer[20] (Brigade of Conquest commander) Unknown Adnan Abu Amjad[21] (Manbij Military Council & Northern Sun Battalion commander) Anwar Khabat[22] (Euphrates Liberation Brigade commander) Units involved Turkish Armed Forces Turkish Land Forces Turkish Air Force Special Forces Hawar Kilis Operations Room Sultan Murad Division[23][24] Descendants of Saladin Brigade[17] Hamza Division[25] Levant Front[26] Al-Moutasem Brigade[27] Sham Legion[28] Free Idlib Army[29] 13th Division Liberation Army[30] 1st Division of Aleppo[31] Brigade of Conquest[32] Qabasin Military Council Other Syrian rebels Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement[33] Ahrar al-Sham[33][34] Unknown Syrian Democratic Forces Army of Revolutionaries Northern Sun Battalion Seljuk Brigade[35] Quwat al-Ashair (Tribal Forces) Qebasin Martyrs Brigade[35] Al-Bab Revolutionaries Front[35] Kieba Martyrs Brigade[35] Ahrar Arima Brigade[35] Martyr Silo al-Rai Brigade[35] Al-Bab Countryside Martyrs Brigade[35] Euphrates Liberation Brigade[36] YPG[35] YPJ[35] Shahba Forces[37] Syrian National Resistance[11] Kafr Saghir Martyrs Brigade[11][38] Syrian Armed Forces Syrian Army Republican Guard[11] Syrian Arab Air Force Strength 40 tanks, 15+ armoured personnel carrier Unknown Unknown Casualties and losses 45–65 rebels[39] and 6 soldiers killed,[40] 2 soldiers captured/missing[41] 39+ killed[42][43][44] 79+ killed[45]

Syrian Civil War Timeline Jan–Apr 2011 May–Aug 2011 Sep–Dec 2011 Jan–Apr 2012 May–Aug 2012 Sep–Dec 2012 Jan–Apr 2013 May–Dec 2013 Jan–July 2014 Aug–Dec 2014 Jan–July 2015 Aug–Dec 2015 Jan–Apr 2016 May–Aug 2016 Sep–Dec 2016 Casualties Cities Bombings Massacres Civil uprising in Syria (March–August 2011) Daraa Baniyas Homs (May–August 2011) Talkalakh Rastan and Talbiseh 1st Jisr ash-Shugur 1st Jabal al-Zawiya Hama Latakia Start of insurgency (September 2011 – April 2012) Homs (2011–14) Homs offensive 1st Idlib Gov. Syrian–Turkish border Jabal al-Zawiya 1st Idlib City Saraqeb 1st Rastan Hama Gov. Daraa Gov. Kernaz 1st Rif Dimashq 1st Zabadani Douma Deir ez-Zor (2011–2014) Hatla Aleppo Gov. Azaz 2nd Rastan 1st al-Qusayr 2nd Idlib Gov. Taftanaz Cease-fire and civil war (May 2012 – December 2013) 3rd Rastan Houla Al-Haffah Al-Qubeir Al-Tremseh 3rd Idlib Gov. 1st Damascus Bombing Aleppo Anadan Menagh Air Base Base 46 Khan al-Assal 1st Aleppo offensive 2nd Aleppo offensive Syrian Kurdistan Ras al-Ayn Kurdish–Islamist conflict Nubl & Al-Zahraa 2nd Rif Dimashq (1st Darayya) Abu al-Duhur Airbase Quneitra Gov. 3rd Rif Dimashq 1st Yarmouk camp 2nd Darayya Darayya & Muadamiyat Aqrab 1st Hama offensive Halfaya 1st Safira Shadadeh 2nd Damascus Raqqa 1st Daraa offensive 4th Rif Dimashq Jdaidet al-Fadl Ghouta Al-Qusayr offensive 2nd al-Qusayr Bayda and Baniyas 2nd Hama offensive 1st Latakia offensive Ma'loula Sadad 5th Rif Dimashq 1st Qalamoun Adra Rise of the Islamists (January–September 2014) Rebel–ISIL conflict Markada 1st Deir ez-Zor offensive al-Otaiba ambush Maan Hosn Morek 2nd Daraa offensive 2nd Latakia offensive 4th Idlib Gov. Al-Malihah 2nd Wadi Deif 2nd Qalamoun Arsal 1st Shaer gas field Eastern Syria Tabqa Air base 3rd Hama offensive 6th Rif Dimashq Quneitra Kobanî United States-led intervention (September 2014 – September 2015) U.S.-led intervention 3rd Daraa offensive 2nd Safira 2014 Idlib city raid Nusra–FSA conflict 2nd Shaer gas field 1st Al-Shaykh Maskin 2nd Deir ez-Zor offensive 3rd Aleppo offensive An-26 crash 4th Daraa offensive Southern Syria Eastern al-Hasakah offensive 1st Sarrin Hama/Homs offensive Bosra 5th Idlib Gov 2nd Idlib city Al-Fu'ah-Kafriya Nasib 2nd Yarmouk camp 1st Northwestern Syria 3rd Qalamoun 1st Palmyra Western al-Hasakah offensive 1st Al-Hasakah city Tell Abyad Daraa/As-Suwayda 2nd Quneitra 2nd Sarrin 5th Daraa 2nd Al-Hasakah city 2nd Kobanî 4th Aleppo offensive 2nd Zabadani 2nd Palmyra Al-Ghab 1st Al-Qaryatayn Douma market 7th Rif Dimashq Kuweires offensive Russian intervention (September 2015 – March 2016) Russian intervention 3rd Quneitra 2nd Northwestern Syria 3rd Latakia offensive Su-24 shootdown 5th Aleppo offensive Al-Hawl Homs offensive 6th Aleppo offensive 4th Hama offensive Tell Tamer Tishrin Dam 2nd Al-Shaykh Maskin al-Qamishli bombings Orontes River 3rd Deir ez-Zor offensive 1st Sayyidah Zaynab 7th Aleppo offensive 1st Ithriyah-Raqqa Al-Shaddadi Homs bombings 2nd Sayyidah Zaynab Khanasir 2nd Tel Abyad 2nd Al-Qaryatayn 3rd Palmyra 2nd Maarat al-Nu'man Aleppo escalation and Turkish intervention (March 2016–present) 8th Aleppo offensive 6th Daara 9th–11th Aleppo offensives Al-Dumayr East Ghouta inter-rebel conflict Al-Qamishli clashes Aleppo bombings 8th Rif Dimashq 3rd Shaer gas field 1st northern Raqqa Jableh & Tartus Manbij Tokhar 2nd Ithriyah-Raqqa 9th Rif Dimashq 12th–14th Aleppo offensives 12th 13th 14th 4th Latakia offensive Al-Bukamal 3rd Qamishli Atmeh al-Rai 3rd Al-Hasakah City Turkish intervention Northern al-Bab Dabiq al-Bab 5th Hama offensive 1st Western al-Bab Eastern Qalamoun September bombings 4th Quneitra offensive Deir ez-Zor airstrike Aleppo aid convoy attack 15th Aleppo offensive Khan al-Shih Idlib inter-rebel conflict 2nd Western al-Bab 16th Aleppo offensive 2nd Northern Raqqa 17th Aleppo offensive Syrian War spillover and international incidents Lebanon spillover Lebanese–Syrian border Sidon Iranian embassy bombing North Lebanon Clashes Syrian–Turkish border Turkey-SAA F4 aircraft Kurdish riots Reyhanlı Russo-Turkish confrontation Russian Su-24 shootdown Syrian–Israeli ceasefire line Mazraat Amal Jordanian–Syrian border Spillover Syrian–Iraqi border Akashat al-Shabah Foreign involvement in the Syrian Civil War Turkish involvement Turkey–ISIL conflict Relocation of the Tomb of Suleyman Shah military intervention Russian involvement military intervention Iranian involvement Hezbollah involvement Israeli airstrikes Jan 2013 Rif Dimashq May 2013 Rif Dimashq Dec 2014 Rif Dimashq U.S.-led Intervention Timeline of raids 2014 rescue operation May 2015 raid Dutch involvement German intervention French intervention Australian intervention UK intervention Jordanian intervention Operation Martyr Muath Qatari support Saudi support Foreign rebel fighters Turkey–ISIL conflict Preceding events Reyhanlı bombings 2014 airstrike 2015 Istanbul suicide bombing 2015 Diyarbakır rally bombings 2015 Suruç bombing Insurgency campaign 2015 police raids Operation Martyr Yalçın 2015 Ankara bombings January 2016 Istanbul bombing Kilis rocket attacks (2016) March 2016 Istanbul bombing May 2016 Gaziantep bombing Istanbul Atatürk Airport attack August 2016 Gaziantep bombing Military intervention 1st northern al-Bab Dabiq Western al-Bab 2nd northern al-Bab

The Battle of al-Bab includes a military offensive launched by Syrian rebel groups (including groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army), and the Turkish Armed Forces north of al-Bab in the Aleppo Governorate, and a separate Syrian Democratic Forces offensive east of the city. The northern operation intends to capture al-Bab from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as part of the Turkish military intervention in Syria.

Background

After the western al-Bab offensive, the rebels moved their focus from the western countryside of al-Bab so to avoid confrontation with the Syrian Democratic Forces, and launched an assault against ISIS north of al-Bab.^[46]

The offensive

First week

Between 6 and 14 November 2016, the rebels captured 36 villages,^[1][2] putting them within 2 kilometers of al-Bab.^[47] Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces captured seven villages east of al-Bab in an attempt to besiege the village of Arima.^[2][4][5]

Second week

On 14 November, rebel forces managed to enter the northern outskirts of al-Bab, but were facing stiff resistance, with fighting raging at a livestock market two kilometers north of the town.^[42] By this point, al-Bab was surrounded from the north and northwest, with the only retreat route remaining for ISIL to the southeast towards Raqqa, through the ISIL-held town of Dayr Hafir.^[47] In the evening, the rebels established fire control over the Jafirah Roundabout and seized several adjacent buildings in the northern part of al-Bab, leaving them in control of less than 5 percent of the city.^[5] However, the next day, the rebels were forced to withdraw one kilometer to the north of al-Bab. Meanwhile, the rebels took control of the town of Qabasin, northeast of al-Bab.^[3]

The Turkish military stated on 18 November, that the FSA had captured five villages in the Karadağ area of al-Rai district and added that it had also hit 80 ISIL targets and a SDF target.^[48]

On 19 November, ISIL recaptured Qabasin, as well as one nearby village. This marked the fourth time the town had changed hands in the previous four days.^[49]

Third week

On 20 November, the rebels launched two counter-attacks against Qabasin, with both being repelled. The next day, the rebels redirected their assault from al-Bab to the Kurdish-held village of Sheikh Nassir, managing to seize the village in the early morning hours, but losing it in an SDF counter-attack in the afternoon.^[50]

Between 22 and 23 November, Qabasin changed hands two more times, ultimately remaining under ISIL control.^[51][52][53] On 23 November, the SDF captured Arima. In response, Turkish artillery shelled the SDF-held villages in the area.^[7][53][54]

On 24 November, according to the Turkish military, the Syrian Arab Air Force conducted an airstrike against Turkish Special Forces and aligned Turkish-backed rebels north of al-Bab, killing three Turkish soldiers and injuring ten.^[55][56] Turkish officials initially stated the casualties were due to an ISIL attack, before blaming the Syrian Air Force. However, the pro-opposition activist group the SOHR disputed it was an air-strike and stated it was in fact an ISIL suicide attack. Additionally, ISIL confirmed it conducted a suicide attack in the area.^[57][58] Later, the Turkish Prime Minister’s office issued a gag order on reporting about the airstrike,^[56][59] while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called on the Turkish government to "act with common sense."^[59] In the evening, the Syrian Air Force officially denied it or the Russian Air Force had conducted an air-strike against Turkish forces.^[60] Concurrently during the day, the SDF, with support of government forces, captured three villages from ISIL west of al-Bab, coming within 10 kilometers of the city.^[61][62] The rebels also took two villages east of al-Bab, reaching the main road between al-Bab and Manbij for the first time.^[63]

Between 25 and 27 November, the SDF captured two villages from ISIL west of al-Bab, while the rebels took three to the east. Additionally, the rebels launched an attack on two SDF-held villages east of the city, with unclear results. At the same time, pro-government forces also advanced, taking control of four villages from IS west of al-Bab.^[8]

Fourth week

On 28 November, the Syrian Army captured a village from the Turkish-backed rebels west of al-Bab, coming within 5 kilometers of the city.^[9][64]

References