Raqqa campaign (2012–2013)

On 19 September 2012, Free Syrian Army rebels led by the Farouq Brigades captured the border town of Tell Abyad and its border crossing with the town of Akçakale in Turkey.[10] The next day, the Syrian Air Force bombed a petrol station in Tell Abyad, killing 30 civilians and wounding 70. A rebel fighter was also mortally wounded.[11] In October, Syrian government forces launched a counteroffensive in Tell Abyad which resulted in a border clash between Syria and Turkey.[12]

On 12 October 2012, the al-Nusra Front and Harakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya attacked the Suluq barracks in Raqqa and claimed to have killed 32 Syrian soldiers.[13]

In November 2012, both the rebels and government forces set up checkpoints on the road between al-Thawrah (Tabqa) and Aleppo. By the end of December, the majority of the Raqqa province were reportedly under rebel control, and rebel fighters entered al-Thawra.[1]

On 10 January 2013, heavy clashes erupted in the town of al-Thawra and the Syrian Air Force in Tabqa airbase shelled the town with artillery. By 11 February, rebels led by the al-Nusra Front fully captured both the town and the Tabqa Dam next to it.[14]

On 6 March 2013, rebel forces led by the al-Nusra Front fully captured the city of Raqqa from Syrian government, forces after a 3-day battle. The Syrian Army retreated to the military base of the 17th Division, to the northeast of the city.[2]

Fighters of the al-Tawhid Brigade deface an image of President Bashar al-Assad on the road between Hama and Raqqa on 27 March 2013.

Free Syrian Army-affiliated groups

• Farouq Brigades[6]
• Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade
  • Jihad in the Path of God Brigade
• Kurdish Front Brigade[15]
• Euphrates Knights Brigade[9]
• Free Tabqa Brigade[16]

Independent Islamist groups (some of which are also part of FSA)

• Islamic Unity and Liberation Front (alliance of several Islamist militias)[3][4]
• Liwa Owais al-Qorani[17]
• Nasr Saladin Brigade[2]
• Liwa Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman[9]
• Muntasir Billah Brigade[9]
• Katibat Hudheifa bin al-Yaman[17]
• Katibat Mohammed bin Abdullah[17]
• Katibat Musaib bin Umair[16]
• Katibat Abu Dujana[16]
• Katibat Saraya al-Furat[16]
• Katibat Shuhada al-Jamaa Jund al-Rahman[16]
• Katibat Ahrar al-Badiyah[16]

Syrian Islamic Liberation Front

• Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades[18]
  • Muntasir Billah Brigade[19][5]
• Al-Tawhid Brigade[2]
• Conquest Brigade
  • Ghuraba al-Sham Battalion[20]

Syrian Islamic Front[1]

• Ahrar al-Sham[16]
  • Liwa Umanaa’ al-Raqqa[9]
• Liwa al-Haqq (Idlib)
  • Katibat al-Bara'[17]
  • Katibat Saraya al-Furat[16]

Al-Qaeda affiliates and other Salafist jihadists

• Islamic State of Iraq
  • Muhajireen Battalion[1]
• Shura Council Front[7]
  • Al-Nusra Front[16]
• Harakat al-Fajr al-Islamiyya[1][16]
• Ghuraba al-Sham[6]
• Katibat Usud al-Sunna[21] (part of Mujahideen Shura Council)

Syrian Armed Forces

• Syrian Army
  • 17th Division
• Syrian Air Force[22]
• National Defence Forces
• Military Intelligence Directorate[4]
• Political Security Directorate[3][4]