Palmyra offensive (December 2016)

Palmyra offensive (December 2016)
Part of the Syrian Civil War Military intervention against ISIL Russian military intervention in Syria
Map showing the territory captured by ISIL since 8 December 2016.
Date 8–22 December 2016 (2 weeks)[4] Location Tadmur District, Eastern Homs Governorate, Syria Result Partial ISIL victory ISIL captures Palmyra on 11 December,[5] as well as nearby oil fields and mountains ISIL attack on the Tiyas Military Airbase fails,[4] sporadic clashes continue around the airbase[6][7] Army starts a counter-offensive[8][9][10][11][12][13]
Belligerents
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant	Syria  Russia  Iran[1] Allied militias: Liwa Fatemiyoun[1] Liwa Zainebiyoun[1][2] Kata'ib al-Imam Ali[1] Hezbollah[3] CJTF–OIR
Commanders and leaders
"al-Mukahal" Amr As'ad †[14] (Leading ISIL commander for Palmyra operations) Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti[15] (ISIL senior commander, redeployed to Raqqa front after 11 December) Abu Hafs al-Mashrifi[16] (ISIL Security Chief in Homs) Umar As'ad †[17][18] (ISIL top commander)	Col. Ali Shaheen[19] (leading operations commander 10–11 December) Maj. Gen. Suheil al-Hassan[20] (leading operations commander since 14 December) Maj. Gen. Shawkat[19] (Desert Commandos commander) Brig. Gen. Hussein Khader †[21][22] Malek Shafiq Omar †[23] (Qalamoun Shield commander) Maj. Sanal Sanchirov †[24] (Air Assault battalion commander) Brig. Gen. Hassan Akbari †[1][25] (IRGC Ground Forces commander)
Units involved
Military of ISIL	Syrian Armed Forces Syrian Army 10th Mechanised Division[26] 11th Armoured Division[27] 18th Armoured Division[27] Republican Guard 800th Regiment[28] Tiger Forces Shahin Group[27] Qalamoun Shield Forces[29] National Defence Forces Palmyrene NDF garrison[27] Golan Regiment[30] Military Intelligence Directorate Military Security Shield Forces[31] Desert Commandos Regiment[19] Air Force Intelligence Directorate[19] Fawj Nusur Homs[26] Syrian Air Force Russian Armed Forces Russian Air Force[30] Special operations forces advisors[32] Russian Airborne Troops 56th Guards Air Assault Brigade advisors[24] Iranian Armed Forces IRGC IRGC Ground Forces Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Corps of Qom Province[1] Liwa Fatemiyoun Hazrat-e Abolfazl Brigade[1] Hezbollah Radwan Forces[33] Syrian Hezbollah units al-Ridha Forces[33] al-Ghalibun[26] Imam Mahdi Brigade[26]
Strength
4,000–5,000 militants[27]	3,000+ fighters[19] (by the beginning of the offensive) c. 1,800–2,500 Military Shield and Al-Badiyah fighters[19] c. 1,200 Liwa Fatemiyoun fighters[19] 150–250 Tiger Forces soldiers[19] Unknown number of reinforcements 100+ Hezbollah fighters[3] (since 14 December)
Casualties and losses
149 killed (per The Inside Source)[34] 630 killed (pro-government claims)[35][36][37][38]	100 killed, 200 wounded and 30 missing (per the Army)[36] 182 killed (per SOHR)[39][40] 352 killed, 22 captured (pro-ISIL claim)[41]

The Palmyra offensive in December 2016 was a military operation launched by the military of ISIL which led to the re-capture of the ancient city of Palmyra, and an unsuccessful ISIL attack on the Tiyas T-4 Airbase to the west of the city.^[5][35] ISIL previously controlled the city from May 2015 until March 2016.

The unexpected blitz offensive occurred concurrently with three major anti-ISIL offensives: the Turkish Western al-Bab offensive and Battle of al-Bab north of Aleppo, the Kurdish-Arab Raqqa campaign, and the Iraqi Battle of Mosul in Iraq, which saw all three gaining ground from the Islamic State.

In January 2017, the Syrian Army and allied forces launched another offensive to recapture Palmyra and its surrounding areas.