Battle of Damascus (2012)

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Battle of Damascus (2012) معركة دمشق
Part of the Syrian civil war (Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign)
Situation in the city during the battle of Damascus. Pink indicates a conflict area.
Date 15 July – 4 August 2012 (2 weeks and 6 days) Location Damascus, Syria 33°30′44″N 36°17′54″E / 33.51222°N 36.29833°E / 33.51222; 36.29833 Result Syrian government victory[2][3][4][5][6][7] Rebel offensive repelled Four senior government officials killed in a bombing attack Sporadic insurgent attacks continue leading to a military offensive into the countryside in mid-August
Belligerents
Free Syrian Army Jaysh al-Islam[1]	Syrian government
Commanders and leaders
Col. Qasem Sadedine Col. Riad al-Asaad Zahran Alloush	Bashar al-Assad Dawoud Rajiha †[8] Assef Shawkat † Fahd Jassem al-Freij Ali Abdullah Ayyoub Maher al-Assad (WIA) Mohammad al-Shaar (WIA) Hasan Turkmani † Hisham Ikhtiyar †
Units involved
Rebel elements from Idlib, Raqqa, Hama and Homs[9] Several local Palestinian militias[10]	Syrian Armed Forces Damascus Police Syrian Army 3rd Armoured Division 4th Armoured Division Republican Guard Elements of other divisions
Strength
2,500–5,000[11][12] fighters (start of the battle) 1,500 fighters from Idlib[13]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
300 killed[14][15] hundreds captured[14] 14 vehicles destroyed[16] (government claim)	92–97 killed*[17] 130 wounded[18][19] 3 tanks[20] and 1 armored car[21] destroyed 1 armored car captured [22] 3 Mil Mi-8 helicopters shot down[23][24] 300 killed (opposition claim)
140+ civilians killed[25]
Figures updated to 19 July
class=notpageimage| Location within Syria

The Battle of Damascus (Arabic: معركة دمشق), also known as Operation Damascus Volcano (Arabic: عملية بركان دمشق), 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.