Second Battle of al-Qusayr

Battle of al-Qusayr (2013)
Part of the Syrian civil war and the Al-Qusayr offensive (2013)
Location of al-Qusayr
Date 19 May 2013 – ongoing (11 years, 3 months and 3 days) Location Al Qusayr and its district, Syria Result Ongoing
Belligerents
Syrian National Coalition Free Syrian Army Mujahideen	Syrian government Syrian Armed Forces National Defense Forces Popular Committees Hezbollah Iranians
Commanders and leaders
Unknown top commander Mahmoud Mohammed Ammar † (Al Mughaouirs Brigade Leader) Nawaf Alwani † (Al Nusra Front Commander) Bakr Saleh Mustapha † (Kassioune Brigade Leader)	Unknown Syrian commander Mustafa Badreddine (Commander of Hezbollah in al-Qusayr) Fadi al-Jazar † (Hezbollah commander)
Units involved
15 rebel units	1st Armoured Division 10th Mechanised Division Unit 910 (Hezbollah)
Strength
Unknown	Unknown number of soldiers and militiamen, 800–1,200 Hezbollah fighters
Casualties and losses
108–137 fighters killed	12 soldiers and militiamen killed, 46 Hezbollah fighters killed
8 civilians killed

The Battle of al-Qusayr started on 19 May 2013, as part of the Al-Qusayr offensive which was launched in early April 2013, by the Syrian Army and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, during the Syrian civil war, with the aim of capturing all villages around the rebel-held town of al-Qusayr, thus tightening the siege of the city and ultimately launching an attack on al-Qusayr itself. The region is an important supply route for rebels fighting Syrian government forces in Homs.

The battle has been described as a decisive one, which will will determine the outcome of the war.

The battle

First day

On 19 May, after two days of calm, planes, artillery and mortars bombarded al-Qusayr in the early hours of the morning killing 20 people, including 11 rebels. Later in the day, government troops, backed-up by hundreds of Hezbollah militiamen, stormed the city from several directions. Fierce fighting raged around the entrances to the town. Helicopters were seen bombing a heavily damaged neighbourhood in video uploaded onto the Web. Clashes at nine points in and around al-Qusayr were reported during the day.

Syrian troops entered the center of the city later in the day, seizing the town's main square and its municipality building, a military source said. One opposition activist denied that government forces made gains and stated that the municipality building had already been destroyed six months earlier. He also reported that 17 houses had been destroyed in the early morning bombardment. However, another opposition activist at the end of the day confirmed the Army had captured the municipality building and were in control of 60% of the city.

Government troops had attacked from the south, east and northeast. According to one soldier, after fierce fighting they quickly seized the southern part of town, the town hall and nearby buildings, and advanced on the western outskirts. During the operation, troops had to defuse mines and bombs placed by rebels at the entrances to the city. The attack appeared to surprise the rebels, who expected the Army to push via the north by attacking several rebel-controlled villages before attacking the city itself. Hezbollah fighters had descended on the city from the Al Tal area, west of the of Assi river, which has an overlooking position over al-Qusayr. Several rebel fighters accused some commanders of fleeing the Al Tal area after they bought their way out of al-Qusayr at the last moment before the assault on the city started. Many fighters reportedly managed to break the siege by escaping through a secret route towards Josiah and the Qalamoun Mountains to the south. However, government troops apparently found out about the escape route nearly a week before and blocked it, killing and injuring around 30 fighters. According to the FSA, the commander of Hezbollah's forces leading the battle in al-Qusayr is Mustafa Badreddine, who is accused of involvement in former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri's murder. “It has been confirmed that Mustafa Badreddine is present on Qusayr's front where he is leading Hizbullah's operations,” said a statement issued by the FSA.

A Hezbollah fighter reported that their forces managed to clear two thirds of the city and were moving towards the northern section of al-Qusayr when they were attacked from behind by rebel fighters, which they had not previously seen. At that point they suffered a lot of casualties, most of them shot in the back.

Second day

By the second day of the battle, state media claimed they had restored "stability" in the town's east, and was still hunting "remnants of terrorists" in some northern and eastern areas. The areas listed by them as coming under Army control were: "The local stadium area; some parts of the western area, municipality HQ, the cultural centre, the Church, al-Baladyeh roundabout and al-Ghytta area." An opposition source also reported the fighting to be concentrated in the northern part of the city.

SOHR reported the Army surrounded the village of al-Dab'a, north of the city. SOHR said there were conflicting reports as to whether or not the Syrian army was fighting inside al-Qusayr city, but had reports which confirmed that they were gathering near the western neighborhood of al-Qusayr "in order to lay siege on the city itself". Thick black smoke could also be seen from the direction of that air base, north of the city, as government troops fought to retake the facility.

An activist claimed that government and Hezbollah forces had been pushed back to their starting positions on the outskirts of the city, while an FSA spokesman claimed that the government force's efforts to enter the city were being blocked by the FSA, and accused the Syrian army of using a scorched-earth policy during the battle. At the same time, another opposition activist once again reaffirmed that government forces had captured the municipality building and the city center and had pushed out rebel units out of most of al-Qusayr. An Al Jazeera reporter in Beirut also said that it seemed that the Army had control of most of the town.

Third day

On the third day of the fighting, elite Hezbollah reinforcements were sent from Lebanon across the border to al-Qusayr. SOHR reported that much of the town had been destroyed by this point. SOHR had also confirmed, for itself, for the first time that fighting was raging in the city itself. Hezbollah fighters were no longer being used as conventional soldiers, instead they are breaking up into small groups and being used in a "guerrilla warfare" role against the rebels for which they were trained.

A US State Department official, citing multiple rebel sources, claims that Iranian soldiers are involved in the battle for al-Qusayr, whether they are fighting or not remains unclear.

Fourth day

George Sabra, president of the SNC, issued a call for reinforcements to be sent to al-Quasyr stating "Everyone who has weapons or ammunition should send them to Qusair and Homs to strengthen its resistance". The Islamic Tawheed Brigade reportedly sent a convoy of 30 vehicles to al-Quasyr from Aleppo. Later, Abu Firas of the Tawid brigade claimed that a total of 300 support units arrived in al-Qusayr, adding that they also sent an ambulance, an antiaircraft weapon and ammunition. SOHR reported that rebel reinforcements from the town of Ind Shamseen, who were trying to reach al-Qusayr, were ambushed by government forces and two rebels were killed. One rebel source said government and Hezbollah forces had cut most of the oppositions overland supply lines into al-Qusayr and some others reaffirmed that they believe government troops had captured about 60 percent of the city, while a government official claimed they controlled up to 80 percent of the city. Rebel sources reported the Army was holding 40% of the city, with opposition forces still in control of the central and western part of al-Qusayr.

Government troops were advancing cautiously amid heavy fighting which largely destroyed the city. Morale among Army personal was reportedly high as "news broke" about the killing of al-Nusra Front commander Abu Omar. Military commanders on the ground said that the battle for Qusayr is far from over and it could take one more week to retake the northern part of al-Qusayr where rebels were entrenched. Meanwhile, opposition forces were still holding the al-Dabaa air base. It was reported that the Army had discovered rebel tunnels linking areas around the town. Morale was also high among Hezbollah fighters, despite loosing a large number of men.

Sixth day

Rebels launched a counter-attack in which they claimed to had recaptured three posts from the Syrian Army and Hezbollah fighters. SOHR reported that two rebels were killed. Rebel forces in al-Qusayr were joined by the ‘cannibal’ commander, Abu Sakkar, who became notorious after appearing in a video in which he ate the heart of a dead government soldier. It was also reported, according to pro-government sources, that Army forces were advancing in the outlying district of Hamdiyeh, in an attempt to cut the opposition forces' last supply line into al-Qusayr. Opposition sources denied this with an FSA major claiming the attack on the city via Hamdiyeh was repulsed. However, SOHR said that fighting in Hamdiyeh was still ongoing.

An AFP journalist said the eastern part of the city was transformed into a military barracks. A military officer told the journalist that the Army was in the penultimate phase of the battle. According to SOHR, the Army and Hezbollah were encircling and bombing the rebels in the northern part of the town, into which government forces were squeezing opposition fighters, as stated by a military officer.

The rebels were now confined in a triangle linking Arjun, al Dabaa and the northern part of Qusayr. A large force of rebels had retreated to the al dabaa airbase. The approach of the army was described as being slow and methodical, taking over small bit of ground from rebels and consolidating it before advancing again. Very few reinforcements reached the rebels, due to the control of surrounding roads by the governement.

Seventh day

At daybreak on 25 May, the Army unleashed the heaviest shelling since the start of the battle with barrages of rockets and tank shells hitting al-Qusayr and the surrounding rebel areas, specifically Hamdiyeh and the al-Dabaa airbase to the north. Government forces have also fired two surface to surface missiles during the bombardment. A Hezbollah fighter told Reuters that the attack was advancing slowly due to rebel's efforts at mining the town, with the fighter saying "Even the refrigerators are mined."

Casualties

The military reported that they killed 100 rebel fighters on the first day of the battle for the city. The opposition activist group SOHR stated that 76 rebels, 31 Hezbollah fighters, 12 government soldiers and militiamen and eight civilians were killed during the first three days of the fighting. Among the Hezbollah members killed was commander Fadi al-Jazar. Two rebel commanders were also among the dead. 62-70 Hezbollah fighters were wounded and transported to hospitals in Lebanon. Per other opposition activist estimates: 90 rebels, 30 Hezbollah fighters and 20 government soldiers and militiamen were killed during the first two days. Lebanese sources stated that 12-20 Hezbollah members were killed and around 30 wounded.

By the fourth day of the fighting, 89 rebels had been killed, including six Lebanese. On the fifth day, the number of Hezbollah fighters dead had risen to 46. Opposition military sources put the Hezbollah toll on the sixth day at 50–64.