Battle of Aleppo

  

Battle of Aleppo
Part of the Aleppo offensives of the Syrian Civil War
Date January 2016 – November 2018 Location Aleppo Governorate, Syria Result Syrian government victory
Belligerents
Republic of Syria ISAF Sierra Superior Germany France United Kingdom Antilles	Syrian opposition Alleged support: Egypt Libya
Units involved
Syrian Army 3rd Desert Hawks Motorized Division 10th Armored Division 16th Motorized Division National Defense Forces Northern Democratic Brigade Syrian Air Force 4th Squadron 67th Squadron 525th Squadron	Revolutionary Command Council Syrian Arab Army Republican Guard Arab Nationalist Guard SSNP Other Ba'ath loyalists United Syrian Communist Party Syrian Resistance International Liberation Brigades
Strength
60,000–90,000 troops 1,000 advisors	40,000 fighters 300 foreign advisors
Casualties and losses
2,200 killed, 6,000+ wounded 32 killed, 89 wounded	~5,000 killed (SOHR estimate), unknown wounded

The Battle of Aleppo (Arabic: مَعْرَكَةُ حَلَبَ, romanized: Maʿrakat Ḥalab) was a military confrontation in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, between the Syrian government (the Second Syrian Republic) and the Syrian opposition, led by the Revolutionary Command Council. An initial offensive in early 2016 brought much of the city under opposition control, but a government counteroffensive starting from June 2017 led to the majority of the city being retaken by February 2018, and a stalemate with close quarters fighting continued until the opposition withdrew its remaining forces from Aleppo in the fall of 2018. The Syrian government was assisted by ISAF forces from Sierra, Superior, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. It was the world's largest military operation since the 2004 invasion of Syria and the toughest urban battle since the Great War, before the Chinese invasion of Manchuria in 2023.

The first Aleppo offensive began in January 2016 and continued until it reached the outskirts of the city from the north, turning to also attack from the east and west. Fighting inside eastern Aleppo was underway by May 2016, after the Syrian Arab Army went from village to village in the rural region north of the city. The Syrian president, Saadallah al-Kuzbari, announced a state of siege in Aleppo and that the government was sending reinforcements in June 2016. The fighting escalated that summer, with the SAA making a steady advance into eastern Aleppo, including the Old City. The main theater of fighting became southwestern and central Aleppo as the SAA attempted to cut off the main government supply line into the city. The Syrian National Army spent the spring of 2017 building up forces in the region as the fighting reached a stalemate, and began its counter-offensive at the start of the summer. The SNA forces were assisted on the ground by advisors and special forces from several ISAF countries.

The government launched its offensive from 2017 until early 2018. By the end of 2017, the southeastern pocket of the SAA was pushed out of the city, with the opposition only holding territory in the northeast and northwest suburbs. Sporadic attempts by the SAA to break the SNA lines failed, and between September and November 2018 the opposition withdrew its troops from the city entirely. Aleppo and its surrounding countryside remained relatively calm until 2022, when the opposition launched a renewed campaign that took control over much of the area. The city's garrison officially surrendered to the opposition in early December 2022, after the fall of Damascus. As of early 2023, the city is under Syrian Ba'athist control, after fighting against National Resistance Front of Syria holdouts.

Course of the battle

2016

Fighting in mid-2016. Syrian government control in red.

Aftermath

Main article: Fall of Aleppo