Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019)
The 2019 northwestern Syria offensive, codenamed "Dawn of Idlib" (Arabic: فجر إدلب), was a military operation launched on 30 April 2019 by the Syrian Armed Forces and its allies against rebel groups in northwestern Syria during the Syrian civil war in a region known as "Greater Idlib", consisting of northwest Hama, southern Idlib and northeastern Latakia provinces. The government's main objectives were to open the M5 highway and to expel non-compliant militant groups, particularly the internationally proscribed al-Qaeda-linked group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), from the 15–20 km demilitarized zone demarcated by Turkey and the Russian Federation at Sochi in 2018. The offensive was seen by both parties as crucial to the outcome of the war.
| Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019) | |||||||||
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| Part of the Syrian Civil War | |||||||||
Situation in northwestern Syria as of 31 August 2019. Locations of Turkish and Russian outposts are pictured. Syrian Army control Syrian Opposition control Syrian Army & SDF control | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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Syria
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Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Turkey (sporadic clashes) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Maj. Gen. Maher al-Assad Brig. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan Colonel Ghiath Dalla Colonel Bashar Ratabah † Nizar Mahmoud † Major Alaa Mohammed Khaddour † Abdullah Sabah Ajaj † |
Abu Mohammad al-Julani Osama Hussein al-Dib † Mansur Dagestani † Maj. Jamil al-Saleh (WIA) Abdul Baset al-Sarout † Abu Muhammad al-Muhajir Abu Riad al-Deiri † Abu Musab al-Tunisi (Jaysh al-Ahrar commander) † Abu Setif al-Binnishi (Jaysh al-Ahrar commander) † Abu Qatada al-Homsi (Jaysh al-Ahrar commander) † Abu Salman Belarus (Malhama Tactical leader) † Abu Omar al Dayk(Faylaq al-Sham commander) † Mohammad Husein Qasem(Faylaq al-Sham commander) † Sayf Balud (Hamza Division) Abdullah Halawa (Hamza Division) | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
Palestinian Syrian militias |
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
National Front for Liberation
Jaysh al-Izza
Rouse the Believers Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army
Taliban Movement of Salah al-Din the Kurd | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | 60,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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1,391 killed 1 SyAAF Su-22 shot down |
1,659 killed 1 killed | ||||||||
| 1,043 civilians killed | |||||||||
On 1 August 2019, the Syrian government declared that it would halt its operation on Idlib on the next day. In response, Tahrir al-Sham stated that the truce proved "the failure of the criminal regime’s military operation against the liberated north." In response to HTS refusal to agree to a ceasefire, alongside HTS' refusal to comply with the parameters of the Sochi Agreement, the Syrian Army resumed the offensive on 5 August, capturing numerous villages and strategic hilltops in southern Idlib before seizing Khan Shaykhun and subsequently the entire rebel-held pocket in southern Idlib.
During the course of the offensive, the Syrian and Russian air forces continually conducted airstrikes against rebel positions, while pro-government ground forces intensively targeted them with surface-to-surface missiles and heavy artillery on a daily basis.