Battle of Raqqa (2013)

Battle of Raqqa
Part of the Raqqa campaign (2012–2013) and the Syrian civil war
Course of the battle and control in Raqqa as of October 2013   Syrian Arab Army control   Opposition control
Date 3–6 March 2013[3] (3 days) Location Raqqa, Syria 35°57′00″N 39°01′00″E / 35.9500°N 39.0167°E / 35.9500; 39.0167 Result Rebel victory Territorial changes Rebels seize Raqqa[3]
Belligerents
Syrian Islamic Front Ahrar ash-Sham Free Syrian Army Al-Nusra Front[1] Islamic State of Iraq[2]	Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed Forces
Commanders and leaders
Unknown top provincial al-Nusra commander †[4] Unknown top provincial Ahrar al-Sham commander †[4] Col. Moataz Raslan (top FSA commander)[5]	Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Halabi (Raqqa's state security head)[6] Maj. Gen. Hassan Jalili (POW) (Provincial governor)[6] Suleiman Suleiman (POW) (Provincial Baath party's secretary general)[6]
Units involved
Raqqa Liberation Front[7] Liwa Owais al-Qorani Muntasir Billah Brigade Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade Euphrates Knights Brigade Islamic Unity and Liberation Front Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman Brigade Victory of Saladin Battalions Ahrar ash-Sham[7] Brigade of the Trustees of Raqqa Conquest Brigade Ghuraba al-Sham Battalion[8]	Syrian Arab Army 17th Division Syrian Air Force Local police
Strength
≈7,000 fighters[9]	400 soldiers
Casualties and losses
40–50 killed[4][10][11]	30 killed[4][12][13] 300 captured[14]
More than 100 civilians killed from 4–5 March (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimate)[15] 39 killed in air raids on 6 March[13]

The battle of Raqqa, also known as the first battle of Raqqa and code named by rebels as the "Raid of the Almighty",^[7] was fought for control of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa during the Syrian civil war between Sunni Islamist rebel insurgents and the Syrian Arab Army. Rebel forces launched the offensive in early March 2013, and declared themselves in "near-total control" on 5 March, making it the first provincial capital claimed to come under rebel control in the civil war.^[16] The battle, on the opposition side, was primarily led by the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham.^[17]