Battle of Zahleh

Battle of Zahleh ; معركة زحلة
	Part of the Lebanese Civil War
	; Town of Zahle. The battle took place in the mountains surrounding the town and the roads leading to it.
Date	December 22, 1980 – June 30, 1981 (6 months and 8 days)
Location	Zahlé, Lebanon
Result	Lebanese Forces strategic victory
Belligerents
Lebanese Forces	Arab Deterrent Force Syrian Armed Forces; Palestine Liberation Organization ; Hannache Group
Commanders and leaders
Bachir Gemayel	Hafez Al Assad; Elias Hannache
Units involved
Lebanese Forces:; Al Wahdat el-Markaziya (Special LF Central Units); ISF (Internal Security Forces); Zahlawi Local Resistance groups;	Syrian Army Forces: ; 35th Brigade (Special Forces); 41st Brigade (Special Forces); 47th Brigade (Mechanized Infantry); 51st Brigade (Ind. Armored); 62nd Brigade (Mechanized Infantry); 67th Brigade; 85th Brigade; 78th Brigade; Palestine Liberation Organization:; al-Yarmouk Faction; al-Kostol Faction;
Casualties and losses
est. 200 killed ; 200 wounded ; Total: 400 casualties	est. 300 killed ; 400 wounded ; 32 tanks and Armored personnel carrier; Total: 700 casualties
	200 civilians killed and 2,000 wounded

The Battle of Zahleh (Arabic: معركة زحلة) was a battle in the Lebanese Civil War that took place between December 1980 and June 1981. During the seven-month period, the city of Zahle endured a handful of political and military setbacks. The opposing key players were on the one side, the Lebanese Forces (LF) aided by Zahlawi townspeople, and on the other side, the Syrian Armed Forces, then part of the peace-keeping Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) aided by some Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) factions.^[10] Demographically, Zahleh is one of the largest predominantly Christian towns in Lebanon.^[11] Adjacent to the town's outskirts, the Bekaa valley, spanning the length of the Syrian borders. Given Zahleh's close proximity to the Bekaa Valley, the Syrian Armed Forces feared a potential alliance between Israel and the LF in Zahleh. This potential alliance would not only threaten the Syrian military presence in the Bekaa valley, but was regarded as a national security threat from the Syrians' point of view, given the close proximity between Zahleh and the Beirut-Damascus highway.^[12] Consequently, as a clamp-down strategy, the Syrian forces controlled the major roads leading in and out of the city and fortified the entire Valley. Around December 1980, tension increased between Zahlawi Lebanese Forces and Syrian-backed Leftist militants. From April to June 1981, throughout the four-month period, a handful of LF members, aided by Zahlawi Local Resistance, confronted the Syrian war machine and defended the city from Syrian intrusion and potential invasion.

^ Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory.
^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–170.
^ Abou Nade, Fouad. "On Battle of Zahleh". YouTube video. michel10452. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
^ ^a ^b Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory. p. 10.
^ Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory. p. 11.
^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.
^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. p. 171.
^ Choueifaty, Clovis (2010). The Battles of Syria In Lebanon Vol 2. self-published. p. 166.
^ https://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Report-Lebanon-Mapping-2013-EN_0.pdf
^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.
^ Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory.
^ Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.

[1] Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory.

[2] Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–170.

[3] Abou Nade, Fouad. "On Battle of Zahleh". YouTube video. michel10452. Retrieved 5 November 2011.

[auto6-4] Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory. p. 10.

[5] Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory. p. 11.

[6] Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.

[7] Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du Coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. p. 171.

[auto2-8] Choueifaty, Clovis (2010). The Battles of Syria In Lebanon Vol 2. self-published. p. 166.

[9] ttps://www.ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Report-Lebanon-Mapping-2013-EN_0.pdf

[10] Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.

[11] Mclaurin, R. D. (1986). The battle of Zahle (Technical memorandum 8-86). MD: U.S. Army Human Engineering Laboratory.

[12] Menargues, Alain (2004). Les secrets de la guerre au Liban: du coup d'Etat de Bachir Gémayel aux Massacres des Camps Palestiniens. Albin Michel. pp. 106–107.

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