A battle for control of Rastan, a city of 60,000 residents in

Homs Governorate Homs Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥimṣ'') is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in central Syria. Its geography differs in various locations in the governorate, from to . ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, occurred from 27 September to 1 October 2011. In late September, there were reports of numerous

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

defections in the area, following which the

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...

took control of Rastan. After a four-day battle, the city was retaken by the Syrian Army.

Background

On 28 May 2011, after major protests, the Syrian Army launched an operation in Rastan and the neighboring town of

Talbiseh Talbiseh (, also spelled Talbisa, Tell Bisa, Talbeesa) is a large town in northwestern Syria administratively part of the Homs Governorate, about 10 kilometers north of Homs. Nearby localities include al-Rastan to the north, al-Ghantoo to the sou ...

, which resulted in the suppression of anti-government protests and numerous deaths. The Syrian Army met some armed opposition during the operation, but had gained control of the city by 4 June.

Battle

In late September, there were reports of many Syrian Army defections in Rastan, and the Free Syrian Army claimed to have destroyed 17 armoured vehicles during clashes in the city, using RPGs and booby traps. The assault was also, the opposition claimed, supported by

Syrian Air Force The Syrian Air Force () is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It was established in 1948, and first saw action in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Under Ba'athist Syria until December 8, 2024, it was known as the Syrian Arab Air Forc ...

jets. On 1 October, the Syrian Army took control of Rastan, killing 120 civilians and opposition soldiers according to opposition sources and arresting 3,000 suspected opposition members. Syrian troops fought hundreds of fellow soldiers who have turned against president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

as tens of thousands of denominators took to the streets on

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...

Aftermath

Insurgent activity continued in the area for months after the major clashes ended. On 24 November, the military conducted an operation in Rastan, during which they killed 16 gunmen and captured a large cache of weapons. On 1 February 2012, the FSA and

Syrian opposition Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

activists reported that the FSA had gained full control of Rastan after four days of intense clashes. Photos were posted on the internet showing FSA fighters in the streets of Rastan, standing guard.

References

External links

We Live as in War
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Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

'', 11 November 2011
By All Means Necessary!
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'', 16 December 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rastan Battles of the Syrian civil war in 2011 Homs Governorate in the Syrian civil war Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian government Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Free Syrian Army September 2011 in Syria October 2011 in Syria