Battle of al-Haffah

Battle of Al-Haffah
	Part of the Syrian uprising
Date	5 - 13 June 2012
Location	Al-Haffah, Latakia Governorate, Syria
Result	Syrian Army victory
Belligerents
Syrian National Council Free Syrian Army;	Syrian government Syrian Army; Shabiha;
Casualties and losses
at least 23 killed	68 killed, 200 wounded
	at the most 29 civilians killed*
	Number also possibly includes civilians turned rebels.;

The Battle of Al-Haffah was a battle between the Syrian Army and the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Latakia Governorate, primarily in the area around the town of Al-Haffah.

Background

Haffah is a Sunni Muslim town that lies in the foothills of the coastal mountains that form the heartland of Assad's Alawi sect. It is strategically located close to the port city of Latakia, as well as, the Turkish border which has been used by the rebels to smuggle people and supplies.^[5]

Event

Rebel attack and capture of Al-Haffah

The clashes started on 5 June 2012, in Al-Haffah, when a large concentration of FSA rebels attacked and captured the town's police stations. Soon after, the government military forces surrounded the city and began an attack. The opposition claimed at least five government tanks and armoured personnel carriers were destroyed in the fighting.^[6] Clashes also broke out in the nearby villages of Bakas, Shirqaq, Babna, Al-Jankil, and Al-Dafil.^[7]

Army counter-attack

The fighting continued into the next day with government forces shelling the village of Shirqaq and continuing to assault Al-Haffah, where tanks and helicopters joined the fighting. The helicopters strafed suspected rebel positions. On the first day of the battle 33 people were killed: 22 soldiers, nine rebels and two civilians.^[8] On the second day seven people were killed due to the shelling, including one rebel fighter.^[9] By 7 June, a number of rebels retreated from Al-Haffah to the al-Gheba area under heavy helicopter fire, but not before they freed several prisoners, abducted a number of police officers and bulldozed the local police station and secret police offices.^[10]

Army troop reinforcements arrived to the area on 10 June, and the military continued to bombard the town and surrounding villages for a sixth straight day. Most of the rebels retreated to the surrounding mountainous area around Al-Haffah, which is a Sunni Muslim enclave, and entrenched themselves.^[4]^[3] The next day, the US government reported that it feared the Syrian government was planning a new massacre in al-Haffah, where fighting had killed 68 soldiers, 29 civilians and 23 rebel fighters. The city continued to endure heavy shelling from the army. The FSA reported the same day that they had moved civilians away from the city centre to protect them, but even the outskirts were shelled eventually.^[11]

Army recaptures Al-Haffah

On 12 June, the military recaptured the town.^[12] The remaining 200 FSA fighters withdrew from al-Haffah under heavy bombardment by government forces.^[13] The rebels retreated to Turkey. The FSA called the pullout to be tactical, to avoid the killings of even more civilians. The rebels also claimed that heavy shelling against the town was causing big damages in the area's infrastructure and shortages in water and electricity supplies. In addition, the FSA statement said the withdrawal from the town and its suburbs was to avoid another "massacre" and orders were reportedly given to FSA fighters to evacuate bodies of those killed and the injured civilians, who include women and children.^[14]

Aftermath

After the battle, UN monitors were met with the smell of death as they entered the deserted town of al-Haffah which had been shelled for 8 consecutive days.^[15] The UN observers found the Sunni Muslim town completely abandoned with burned out wrecks of cars and at least one charred body laying on a street.^[16]