Battle of Taftanaz

The Battle of Taftanaz started on February 11, 2012 in Idlib Governorate, between anti-government fighters and Syrian Arab Army troops participating in a nationwide crackdown on dissent against Bashar Assad's government. Heavy fighting took place on the outskirts of the town of Taftanaz, killing 20 people.[6][7] On the day of the battle Kofi Annan announced a cease-fire for the Syrian conflict.

Battle of Taftanaz
Part of April 2012 Idlib Governorate Operation (the Early insurgency phase of the Syrian Civil War)
Date11 February – 5 April 2012
(1 month, 3 weeks and 4 days)[1]
Location
Taftanaz, Idlib Governorate, Syria
Result Syrian Army victory
Belligerents

Syrian opposition

Syrian Arab Republic

Commanders and leaders
Hassan Aboud
Abu Ali Bard		 Unknown
Strength
Unknown

1st Armoured Division

  • 76th Armoured Brigade[3]
300 soldiers, 50 tanks
Casualties and losses
Unknown 9 tanks[4]
120 killed in total (opposition claim)[5]
Location within Syria

By 5 April, the military captured Taftanaz's city center, which was defended by 200 armed rebels, after a two-hour battle, following which the army reportedly rounded up and executed 82 people. It was unknown how many were opposition fighters and how many were civilians.[8]

Two months after, it was called a "massacre" in the town of Taftnaz, two-thirds of the population had left. The town had been a centre for opposition protests until the army had raided it with tanks on 3 April. Witnesses in the town said that tanks shelled the town from four sides before armored cars brought in dozens of soldiers who dragged civilians from their homes and gunned them down in the streets, and they also claimed that the soldiers looted, destroyed and torched hundreds of homes, bringing some down on their owners’ heads. Videos showed this, and 62 people were killed during the attack, despite the town only having a small rebel presence. Nine Syrian Arab Army tanks were destroyed by homemade bombs as they left the town.[4]

References
  1. TIME Exclusive: Meet the Islamist Militants Fighting Alongside Syria’s Rebels
  2. https://jamestown.org/brief/july-2014-briefs/
  3. SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany (1 May 2012). "SPIEGEL Reports From Inside the Syria's Idlib Province". SPIEGEL ONLINE. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. "Article no longer available". Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  5. Refugee flow quickens as Syrian deadline approaches Archived April 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2012-04-04.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Syria violence kills 80
  8. "Survivors tell of bloody aftermath to fight in Taftanaz, Syria". miamiherald. Retrieved 8 May 2016.

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