page_title: Battle of Damascus (2012-2018)
section_title: Military counter-attack
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Damascus (2012-2018) / Battle / Military counter-attack
caption_attribution_description: English: Damascus Checkpoint, Jan. 14, 2012. Photo taken by VOA Middle East correspondent Elizabeth Arrott while traveling through Damascus with government escorts.
context_page_description: The Battle of Damascus started on 15 July 2012 during the Syrian Civil War. It is unclear who started the battle. Thousands of rebels infiltrated Damascus from the surrounding countryside. Following this, according to some reports, the opposition forces launched an operation to capture the capital, while according to other reports, the military learned of the large-scale rebel operation beforehand and made a preemptive strike. Some reports even suggested the rebels launched the operation prematurely due to their plans being discovered by the security forces.
  After the rebels initially captured half a dozen districts and killed four high-ranking government ministers in a bombing, opposition forces were forced to retreat following a military counter-attack, leaving the army in control of the capital after three weeks of fighting. It was the first time tanks and helicopters had been deployed in central Damascus and left parts of the city as a warzone.
context_section_description: On 19 July, the military launched an offensive to push back rebel forces that infiltrated Damascus. Damascus residents reported ongoing shelling of several districts, including Midan and Kafr Souseh. Residents were meanwhile arming themselves, with many citizens fleeing districts which were hit by ongoing battles. The army removed its checkpoints around Midan district and the ancient Old City for reasons unknown.
  Afterwards, opposition groups accused the Syrian army in massacring 100 civilians that had been shot and killed by security forces gunfire during a funeral procession in al-Sayida Zainab on the outskirts of Damascus. However, later reports by opposition groups revised the toll to at least 60. Meanwhile, the FSA reportedly shelled Damascus International Airport with mortars 20 times.
  It was reported that the president, Bashar al-Assad, was in the coastal city of Latakia, directing the fighting in Damascus. However, it was unclear if he traveled there from Damascus before or after the bombing attack. One opposition official stated that they had information he may have been in Latakia for days. Meanwhile, following the Damascus bombing, his mother and sister went to Tartus. During the day, al-Assad was shown on state TV attending the swearing-in of his new defense minister.
  An activist based in the eastern Damascus district Mezze said in interview with The Guardian that rebels had taken control over the Midan and Qaboun districts with fighting raging in Kafr Souseh and Mezze. He also claimed three tanks were destroyed in Kafr Souseh by the FSA.
  Later that day, the Syrian Army stormed the Qaboun district with a large number of tanks, according to the opposition group Syrian Observatory, who said the army's move stoked fears of an imminent massacre in the area. Earlier, rebels attacked the central police command in Old Damascus, killing five officers. That night, Syrian State TV broadcast footage of Qaboun, showing the corpses of about 20 dead rebels. The opposition group, Syrian Observatory, said that 23 rebels and 47 alleged civilians were killed in Damascus during the day.
  The following day, security sources told AFP that the Army had launched a general offensive in Damascus. The Syrian Army continued its counter-attack, storming the quarter of Jobar in Damascus, searching for rebels. The Syrian official press agency stated that the army inflicted heavy losses on the rebels in Qaboun and that the Syrian Army regained control of Midan. The rebels confirmed this stating they had been forced to withdraw from Midan after the army assault.
  Rebel fighters stormed and burned the Sa'iqa military camp, which was being used as a training facility, in the Basateen al-Mezzeh district in central Damascus according to activists.
  At the end of 20 July, Damascus center and areas beyond were reported to be under firm government control with some fighting continuing only in the outskirts. The rebels who were fighting near the Yarbouk camp were overrun by the Army and the Palestinian factions loyal to the government.
  On 21 July, a security source told AFP that the Army took control of Tadamon, Qaboun and Barzeh, in addition to Midan, the previous day, but that fighting was still ongoing in the Jobar, Kfar Sousa and Mazeeh quarters. It was later confirmed that Barzeh was still rebel-held. Activists claimed that fighting was still reported in Damascus proper, with clashes in the northern Barzeh and Rukneddine districts and that a police station was attacked on Khaled bin Waleed street, with an activist saying rebels in Damascus were staging hit-and-run attacks as opposed to controlling areas. Still, during the morning, the city was largely calm according to residents. SOHR said the military bombarded the Al-Kaddam and Assali neighborhoods of Damascus. Residents also reported fighting in the Al-Hajar Al-Aswad and Tadamon districts.
  Undated online video posted by activists appeared to show the local police station being overrun at Yarmouk and clashes were reported in the Northern suburb of al-Tal, where the head of the local Political S
caption: Syrian soldier manning a checkpoint with a PK machine gun
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