The Al-Tanf offensive (2016) was a two-day offensive launched by the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...

backed by the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

-led

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

against the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

(ISIL), aiming to recapture the

Al Waleed border crossing Al-Waleed border crossing ( ar, نقطة الوليد الحدودية العراقية, also spelled al-Walid), known in Syria as al-Tanf, is one of three official border crossings between Iraq and Syria. It is located in the Ar-Rutba Distric ...

, known in Syria as Al-Tanf. Al-Tanf had been captured by ISIL from the

Syrian Government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...

in May 2015 and had been used by ISIL to shift militants and resources across the border. On 3 March 2016, Syrian rebels took the offensive to capture al-Tanf, and after several hours of fighting captured the border post. ISIL counter-attacked several hours later, and recapturing the post. Fighting continued until the next day, in which the rebels repelled ISIL fighters and recaptured the post.

References

{{reflist Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2016 Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Free Syrian Army Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the United States Conflicts in 2016 Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Homs Governorate in the Syrian civil war