Battle of Baghuz Fawqani
Battle during the Syrian Civil War involving the Islamic State and Syrian Democratic Forces / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Battle of Baghuz Fawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) coalition airstrikes, artillery, and special forces personnel,[49] that began on 9 February 2019 as part of the Deir ez-Zor campaign of the Syrian Civil War. The battle—which was composed of a series of ground assaults—took place in and around the Syrian town of Al-Baghuz Fawqani in the Middle Euphrates River Valley near the Iraq–Syria border, and was the territorial last stand of the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria.[50][51]
This article possibly contains original research. (June 2019) |
Battle of Baghuz Fawqani | |||||||
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Part of the 2017–2019 Deir ez-Zor campaign, the Rojava–Islamist conflict, and the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War | |||||||
Map of the military movements during the final segment of the battle, after 12 February 2019. Syrian government territory is situated west and south of the riverbend. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Syrian Democratic Forces Iraq (minor cross-border support)[2] Syria (minor defensive skirmishes)[3] |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Mazlum Kobane (SDF commander in chief) Jiya Furat[4] (SDF commander for Battle of Baghuz) Adnan Afrin[5] (SDF commander and spokesman) Ahmad Abu Khawla[6] (Deir ez-Zor Military Council commander) Mustafa Manbij[7][8] (Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion commander) Abu Ali Bard[9][10] (Army of Revolutionaries Commander) Lt Gen Paul LaCamera (Commander of CJTF–OIR) Colonel Francois-Regis Legrier[11] (Commander of Task Force Wagram) |
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi[12] (Leader of IS) Abdul Nasser Qardash[13] (IS deputy) Abu Khaled Al-Ansari †[14] (Senior IS commander) Ahmed Jamil al-Sayed †[15] (IS commander) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Syrian Democratic Forces
International Freedom Battalion
| Military of IS | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
15,000–17,000 fighters[25][26]
| 4,000–5,000+ fighters[1][33] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
65 killed (per SOHR)[34] |
259 killed,[35] 4,050 captured (per SOHR)[36][37][38] 1,300 killed,[39][40][41][42] 5,000+ captured (per SDF)[1][43] | ||||||
216 civilians killed by airstrikes (12 Feb. & 18 March; per SOHR)[44][45] 64 civilians killed by airstrikes (18 March; per NYT)[46] Many Yazidi slaves killed by IS[47] Italian photographer wounded[48] | |||||||
After corralling Islamic State forces into a densely populated cluster of hamlets and a tent city along the riverside within the first week, the SDF realised that a greater-than-anticipated number of civilians, most of whom were relatives of the what were now mostly foreign IS fighters, were still in the enclave. With CJTF-OIR oversight, the SDF took an incremental approach to the battle, launching assaults then pausing to allow surrendering fighters, hostages, and families to evacuate in order to minimize civilian casualties. The "trickle-out" strategy, coupled with stiff resistance by veteran Islamic State jihadists within a small dense area, prolonged the battle into a protracted siege.[52] The SDF officially declared final victory over the Islamic State in Baghuz Fawqani on 23 March, marking the end of IS-controlled territories in Syria.[53]
During the battle, on 18 March, a coalition airstrike killed many people. The incident, of which disclosure was suppressed by the U.S. military, killed up to 80 people, including 64 civilians and 16 IS militants according to The New York Times, who revealed it to the public in November 2021. [54] A US military investigation in May 2022 concluded that the airstrike killed 52 IS fighters and 4 civilians and did not violate the laws of war.[55]
Since September 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had been waging a campaign to wrest territorial control from the Islamic State terror group in eastern Syria. The SDF's advances were supported by American, British, and French forces from the CJTF–OIR Coalition via close air support, French and American artillery, and American special forces assistance and oversight. The SDF launched its third and final phase of their campaign in September 2018, gradually capturing the remaining IS pocket of territory straddling the Euphrates river near the Iraq-Syria border.[56] By 1 February 2019, IS was reduced to four square kilometers of territory, boxed in against the river with the SDF advancing from the northwest, Syrian government forces blocking river crossings, and Iraqi forces deployed to prevent cross-border infiltrations. The massive exodus of civilians complicated advances, with the SDF pausing its advance for almost 10 days prior to the battle.[57] Within the 10 days preceding the battle, over 20,000 civilians fled the enclave.[58][59] The SDF stated that a number of foreign hostages, including missing British journalist John Cantlie and the kidnapped Italian Jesuit priest Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, were possibly being held in the enclave.[60]
On 9 February 2019, France's Defense minister Florence Parly visited Firebase Saham, a joint French-U.S. artillery fire support base near Al-Qa'im, Iraq that supported the SDF's anti-IS campaign. Meeting with French forces there, Parly told them not to be distracted and that France "is determined to complete this fight against those who have struck her," referring to IS terror attacks in France in recent years.[61]