Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon

Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon
Part of the Arab Winter, the Spillover of the Syrian Civil War and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict
Lebanese army's 4th Intervention Regiment personnel on Syria Street, guarding the road between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in 2011
Date 17 June 2011 – 28 August 2017 (6 years, 2 months, 1 week and 4 days) Location Lebanon (Akkar, Arsal, Beirut, Qaa, Ras Baalbek, Sidon, and Tripoli) Result Lebanese government victory. Territorial changes The Lebanese Army and Hezbollah expelled IS militants as well as fighters of Al-Qaeda and its allies from Lebanon entirely in 2017 and reestablished control across all Lebanese territory.[50][52]
Main belligerents
Lebanon Lebanese Armed Forces Internal Security Forces Support:  Australia[1]  Canada[2]  China[3]  Cyprus[4]  Czech Republic[5]  Egypt[6]  France[7]  Germany[8]  Iran[9]  Italy[10]  Jordan[11]  Netherlands[12]  Russia[13]  Saudi Arabia[7]  South Korea[14]  Spain[15]  Turkey[16]  United Kingdom[17][18]  United States[7] Pro-Syrian government allies and militias: Hezbollah Lebanese Resistance Brigades[19] PFLP-GC[20] Amal Movement[21] Syrian Social Nationalist Party[22] DFLP[23][unreliable source?] Popular Nasserist Organization[24] As-Sa'iqa[25] Fatah al-Intifada[26] Arab Democratic Party (until 2014)[27] Armenian Revolutionary Federation[28] Arab Movement Party[29] Support:  Syria[30]  Iran[31]  Russia[32] Other militias: Lebanese Communist Party[33] Fatah[34][35]	Syrian rebel forces: Free Syrian Army[36] Saraya Ahl al-Sham [37] Islamic Front (until 2015)[38] Jaysh al-Islam[39] Future Movement[19] Support:  Saudi Arabia[40] Al-Qaeda and allies: Al-Nusra Front[a][41] Fatah al-Islam[42] Ghuraba al-Sham (until 2013) Jund al-Sham[43] Tahrir al-Sham [44] Abdullah Azzam Brigades[45][46] Osbat al-Ansar[47] Sunni Resistance Committees[48] Muslim Youth[49]  Islamic State [50] (from 2013) Military of ISIL Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigade[51]
Commanders and leaders
Michel Aoun (2016–2017) Saad Hariri (2016–2017) Roger Salem (2011–2017) Joseph Aoun (2017) Michel Suleiman (2011–2014) Najib Mikati (2011–2014) Jean Kahwaji (2011–2017) Tammam Salam (2014–2016) Ashraf Rifi (2014–2016) Hassan Nasrallah Hassan al-Laqqis † Assaad Hardan Rifa'at Eid Fuad Othman Osama Saad Shaker Berjawi Khaled Hadadi Fathi Zeidan † Talal al-Ourdouni †	Abdullah Hussein al-Rifai † Abu Malek al-Tali  Ahmed Al-Assir Abu Tarek al-Saadi Islam al-Shahal Bilal Badr[53] Majed al-Majed † Ziad Alloukeh (POW) Naim Abbas (POW)[46] Abu Firas al-Jibba † Jamal Husayn Zayniyah (Al-Nusra Front operations commander in the Qalamoun)[54] Ahmad Mohammad Ammoun (POW)[55] Abu Fouz †[56] Imad Yassin (POW)[57] Ahmad Youssef Ammoun (POW)[58]
Strength
12,000 soldiers mobilized[59]	1,500–4,000+ fighters[60][61] 7,000 fighters[62]
Casualties and losses
61 soldiers killed (See here.)	In clashes with Lebanese Army: 500+ killed 700+ captured (Lebanese Army claim)[62] In clashes with Hezbollah: Unknown
~350 civilians killed[63]
a The al-Nusra Front closely cooperated with ISIL between 2013 and 2014, were considered "frenemies" in 2015,[64] and became embroiled in open conflict with it in 2017.[citation needed]

Between 2011 and 2017, fighting from the Syrian civil war spilled over into Lebanon as opponents and supporters of the Syrian Arab Republic traveled to Lebanon to fight and attack each other on Lebanese soil. The Syrian conflict stoked a resurgence of sectarian violence in Lebanon,^[65] with many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims supporting the rebels in Syria, while many of Lebanon's Shi'a Muslims supporting the Ba'athist government of Bashar Al-Assad, whose Alawite minority is usually described as a heterodox offshoot of Shi'ism.^[66] Killings, unrest and sectarian kidnappings across Lebanon resulted.^[67]

The conflict arose in mid-2011, when seven people were killed and 59 wounded in a fight between gunmen in Tripoli. In May 2012, the conflict spread to Beirut, and later to south and east Lebanon, while the Lebanese Armed Forces deployed in north Lebanon and Beirut. As of January 2016, there had been more than 800 fatalities and almost 3,000 injuries. Among Lebanon's political blocs, the Saudi-backed anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance supports the Syrian opposition, and the Iranian-backed pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance supports the Assad government. On 28 August 2017, the last remaining fighters of IS and Tahrir al-Sham withdrew from Lebanon.