Battle during the Syrian Civil War involving the Islamic State and Syrian Democratic Forces
This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(June 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Battle of Baghuz Fawqani
Part of the 2017–2019 Deir ez-Zor campaign, the Rojava–Islamist conflict, and the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
Map of the military movements during the final segment of the battle, after 12 February 2019. Syrian government territory is situated west and south of the riverbend.
Date
9 February 2019 (2019-02-09) – 23 March 2019 (2019-03-23) (1 month and 2 weeks)
Location
Al-Baghuz Fawqani and surroundings, Abu Kamal District, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria
The SDF launches series of assaults in accordance with civilian evacuations
IS's "tent city", the heart of the IS enclave, is captured by the SDF on 19 March[3]
IS territory is almost completely eradicated from Syria on 23 March, beginning an insurgency phase
Belligerents
Syrian Democratic Forces International Freedom Battalion CJTF–OIR
United States
France
United Kingdom
Iraq (minor cross-border support)[1]
Syria (minor defensive skirmishes)[2]
Islamic State
Wilayat al-Sham
al-Barakah district
Commanders and leaders
Mazlum Kobane (SDF commander in chief) Jiya Furat[4] (SDF commander for Battle of Baghuz) Adnan Afrin[5] (SDF commander and spokesman) Ahmad Abu Khawla[6] (Deir ez-Zor Military Council commander) Mustafa Manbij[7][8] (Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion commander) Abu Ali Bard[9][10] (Army of Revolutionaries Commander) Lt Gen Paul LaCamera (Commander of CJTF–OIR) Colonel Francois-Regis Legrier[11] (Commander of Task Force Wagram)
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi[12] (Leader of IS) Abdul Nasser Qardash[13] (IS deputy) Abu Khaled Al-Ansari †[14] (Senior IS commander) Ahmed Jamil al-Sayed †[15] (IS commander)
Units involved
Syrian Democratic Forces
People's Protection Units (YPG)
Women's Protection Units (YPJ)
Deir ez-Zor Military Council
Manbij Military Council
Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion[7]
Martyr Abdo Dushka Regiment[16]
Army of Revolutionaries[17]
Northern Democratic Brigade[17]
Syriac Military Council (MFS)[17]
International Freedom Battalion
TKP/ML/ TIKKO[18]
United States Armed Forces
United States Air Force
United States special operations forces (non-combat role)[19]
French Armed Forces
French Air Force
French Army
68e Régiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique[20]
Special Forces[21][22]
British Armed Forces
Royal Air Force[23]
Special Forces
Iraqi security forces[24]
Popular Mobilization Forces (minor cross-border support)[1]
Syrian Arab Army
National Defence Forces (minor defensive skirmishes)[2]
Military of IS
Strength
15,000–17,000 fighters[25][26] Coalition: air support, artillery, and special operations forces (SOF)
100 soldiers supporting from Iraq B-1B heavy bombers[27] Cougar, Oshkosh L-ATV, and Humvee vehicles[28]
40 soldiers supporting from Iraq[29] 3 CAESAR self-propelled howitzer guns[30] Nexter Aravis vehicles[31]
216 civilians killed by airstrikes (12 Feb. & 18 March; per SOHR)[44][45] 64 civilians killed by airstrikes (18 March; per NYT)[46] Many Yazidi slaves killed by IS[47] Italian photographer wounded[48]
Al-Baghuz Fawqani
class=notpageimage|
Location of Al-Baghuz Fawqani along the Euphrates River
v
t
e
Syrian civil war
Timeline
January–April 2011
May–August 2011
September–December 2011
January–April 2012
May–August 2012
September–December 2012
January–April 2013
May–December 2013
January–July 2014
August–December 2014
January–July 2015
August–December 2015
January–April 2016
May–August 2016
September–December 2016
January–April 2017
May–August 2017
September–December 2017
January–April 2018
May–August 2018
September–December 2018
January–April 2019
May–August 2019
September–December 2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Background and causes
Casualties
Cities
map
Terrorism
Massacres
v
t
e
Civil uprising in Syria (March–August 2011)
Daraa
Baniyas
Homs (May–August 2011)
Talkalakh
Rastan and Talbiseh
1st Jisr ash-Shughur
1st Jabal al-Zawiya
Hama
Latakia
v
t
e
Start of insurgency (Sept. 2011 – April 2012)
Homs (2011–14)
Homs offensive
1st Idlib Gov.
Syrian–Turkish border
Jabal al-Zawiya
1st Idlib City
Saraqeb
1st Rastan
Hama Gov.
Shayrat & Tiyas ambush
Daraa Gov.
1st Rif Dimashq
1st Zabadani
Douma
Deir ez-Zor (2011–2014)
Hatla
Aleppo Gov.
Azaz
2nd Rastan
1st al-Qusayr
2nd Idlib Gov.
Taftanaz
v
t
e
UN ceasefire; Rebel advances (May 2012 – Dec. 2013)
Foreign intervention on behalf of Syrian Arab Republic
Russian involvement
2015 military intervention
Iranian intervention
2017 missile strike
Iran–Israel conflict
2012 Hezbollah involvement
Foreign intervention in behalf of Syrian rebels
Foreign rebel fighters
Turkish involvement
Turkey–Islamic State conflict
Tomb of Suleyman Shah relocation
Euphrates Shield
2017 airstrikes
Idlib Governorate operation
Afrin operation
2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria
Israel's role
U.S.-led intervention against ISIL
U.S.-led Intervention
Timeline
List of attacks
2014 rescue operation
May 2015 raid
2017 missile strikes
Qatari involvement
Jordanian intervention
Operation Martyr Muath
Lebanon's role
Saudi involvement
April 2018 missile strikes
Dutch involvement
German intervention
French intervention
Australian intervention
UK intervention
v
t
e
Rojava conflict (Syrian civil war)
2012
1st Aleppo
1st Ras al-Ayn
2013
Kurdish–Islamist conflict
1st Tell Abyad
al-Yaarubiyah
1st Tell Hamis and Tell Brak
2014
1st Kobanî
American-led intervention
Kurdish riots
2015
Eastern al-Hasakah
1st Sarrin
Western al-Hasakah
1st al-Hasakah
2nd Tell Abyad
2nd Sarrin
2nd al-Hasakah
2nd Kobani
Al-Hawl
Inner-SDF
Tishrin Dam
1st al-Qamishli
2016
Wusta
Al-Shaddadi
7th Aleppo
3rd Tell Abyad
2nd al-Qamishli
Northern Raqqa
Manbij
3rd al-Qamishli
3rd al-Hasakah
Euphrates Shield
1st Western al-Bab
2nd Western al-Bab
al-Bab
Raqqa
2017
Tabqa
Turkish airstrikes
Raqqa City
Ja'Din
1st Deir ez-Zor
Eastern insurgency
2018
Olive Branch
Afrin
Northern Aleppo insurgency
4th al-Qamishli
Northern border clashes
2019
2nd Manbij
Baghuz Fawqani
Tell Rifaat
Rojava offensive
2nd Ras al-Ayn
2020
2020–2021 Ayn Issa clashes
2021
5th al-Qamishli & 4th al-Hasakah
6th al-Qamishli
2022
5th al-Hasakah
Claw-Sword
2023
Turkish Airstrikes
2nd Deir ez-Zor
The Battle of Baghuz Fawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) coalition airstrikes, artillery, and special forces personnel,[49] that began on 9 February 2019 as part of the Deir ez-Zor campaign of the Syrian Civil War. The battle—which was composed of a series of ground assaults—took place in and around the Syrian town of Al-Baghuz Fawqani in the Middle Euphrates River Valley near the Iraq–Syria border, and was the territorial last stand of the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria.[50][51]
After corralling Islamic State forces into a densely populated cluster of hamlets and a tent city along the riverside within the first week, the SDF realised that a greater-than-anticipated number of civilians, most of whom were relatives of the what were now mostly foreign IS fighters, were still in the enclave. With CJTF-OIR oversight, the SDF took an incremental approach to the battle, launching assaults then pausing to allow surrendering fighters, hostages, and families to evacuate in order to minimize civilian casualties. The "trickle-out" strategy, coupled with stiff resistance by veteran Islamic State jihadists within a small dense area, prolonged the battle into a protracted siege.[52] The SDF officially declared final victory over the Islamic State in Baghuz Fawqani on 23 March, marking the end of IS-controlled territories in Syria.[53]
During the battle, on 18 March, a coalition airstrike killed many people. The incident, of which disclosure was suppressed by the U.S. military, killed up to 80 people, including 64 civilians and 16 IS militants according to The New York Times, who revealed it to the public in November 2021.
[54] A US military investigation in May 2022 concluded that the airstrike killed 52 IS fighters and 4 civilians and did not violate the laws of war.[55]
^ ab"February update". syriahr.com. Syria Observatory for Human Rights. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
^ abCite error: The named reference AP 322019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abcCite error: The named reference in control was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Islamic State: 'Thousands of civilians' still trapped in Baghuz". BBC News. 16 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference yahoo1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"U.S.-backed forces to attack Syria's Deir al-Zor soon: SDF official". Reuters. 25 August 2017.
^ abEtienne Monin (18 February 2019). "Des civils quittent Baghouz, dernier réduit du "califat" : "Si tu es passée par ici, tu es sur la liste noire pour le reste de ta vie"" [Civilians leave Baghouz, the last cut of the "caliphate": "If you've been here, you're on the black list for the rest of your life"]. Radio France (in French). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
^"80% of Manbij is liberated, 50 thousand civilians freed". Hawar News Agency. 2 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017.
^"The assassination of Abu Ali Bard, in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour". www.jesrpress.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
^"YPG: War on ISIS continues". Rudaw. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^"French army on the front line of 'final battle' against IS group". France 24. 10 February 2019.
^"Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIL's secretive leader, fended off internal coup attempt: report". National Post. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
^"سوريا الديمقراطية تسلّم بغداد "بنك معلومات" أشرف على معارك كوباني" (in Arabic). Kurdistan24. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
^Cite error: The named reference key ISIL figure was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Coalition airstrike kills prominent ISIS commander "Ahmed Jamil al-Sayed" in Baghuz camp". Reddit. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
^"Martyr Abdo Dushka forces are able to detonate a dummy ammunition car in Deir al-Zour". YouTube (in Arabic). 24 February 2019.
^ abcJared Szuba (29 March 2019). "ISIS's 'caliphate' was crushed. Now Syria's Kurd-led alliance faces bigger battles". Defense Post. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
^Wladimir van Wilgenburg (18 March 2019). "Italian volunteer killed in fight against ISIS". Kurdistan24. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^Callimachi, Rukmini; Prickett, Ivor (6 February 2019). "A Desperate Exodus From ISIS' Final Village". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"French army on the front line of 'final battle' against IS group". France 24. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"'The fighting was intense': witness tells of two-day attempt to kill Isis leader". the Guardian. 10 February 2019.
^@EyeEuphrates (3 March 2019). "Date: 03/03/2019 Activity: French Special Forces in #Baghouz, #Syria #ISIS @AFP @lemondefr @Le_Figaro…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^"First RAF Typhoon use of Brimstone missile destroys ISIS boat in Syria". The Defense Post. 22 February 2019.
^"Exclusive pictures of final Islamic State group bastion". BBC News.
^"IS Poised to Lose Last Syrian Enclave". March 2019.
^"Kurdish-led forces retake IS group hub in east Syria". France 24. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
^"B-1B up in the air pounding Daesh". Map of Syrian Civil War - Syria news and incidents today - syria.liveuamap.com. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"Another column, in Baguz village, of US Forces Cougar 4x4 TOW, Oshkosh and Humvees". Retrieved 18 February 2019.
^"French guns on Iraq border aim to pin down IS diehards inside Syria " Capital News". Capital News. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"'Heavy clashes' as US-backed forces make final push against IS". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"French Nexter Aravis in Syrian village of Baghuz". Retrieved 18 February 2019.
^Allison, George (9 April 2019). "Reaper strikes Islamic State fighters in a trench".
^Rikar Hussein (9 February 2019). "US-backed Fighters Launch Final Push to Defeat IS in Syria". VOA News. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
^19 killed (9-13 February),[1] 32 killed (16 February-16 March),[2], 14 killed (19 March),[3] total of 65 reported killed
^27 killed (9-13 February),[4] 55 killed (16 February-16 March),[5] 7 killed (2 March; against gov.),[6] 170 killed (19-23 March),[7] [8] total of 259 reported killed
^"Details of the first month of ISIS fade and its retreat to tunnels and trenches of Baghuz, about 21400 of them are out, about 2800 members and 72 children are dead, and tens of others are killed". syriahr.com. 16 March 2019.
^"12 ISIS members blow themselves up in Baghuz farms at a time when about 1000 of them surrender and SDF sweep the area". syriahr.com. 19 March 2019.
^"With the declaration of victory over it east of Euphrates, hundreds of families of abducted people call on the Coalition and SDF to reveal their fate at ISIS". syriahr.com. 23 March 2019.
^"US-Backed Force Says It's in Control of IS Syria Encampment". Voice of America.
^Rempfer, Kyle (4 March 2019). "Final assault against ISIS camp launched Friday night and is still ongoing". Military Times.
^"Hundreds Surrender in Last Islamic State Enclave as SDF Advance". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
^"Syria force locked in battle with IS jihadists in holdout village". France24.com. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
^Ben Wedeman; Hande Atay Alam; Ben Westcott. "Thousands of ISIS troops surrender amid attack on final stronghold in Syria". CNN.
^"Bloody battle for last Isis territory nears end in Syria". The Independent. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"In conjunction with the continued full blackout on Baghuz camp's massacre in which 200 ISIS families were killed by Coalition strikes, renewed demands by SOHR to open an independent investigation about it • The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights". 22 March 2019.
^How the U.S. Hid an Airstrike That Killed Dozens of Civilians in Syria
^"With the declaration of victory over it east of Euphrates, hundreds of families of abducted people call on the Coalition and SDF to reveal their fate at ISIS". 23 March 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference italian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Ben Wedeman; Lauren Said-Moorhouse (23 March 2019). "ISIS has lost its final stronghold in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces says". CNN.
^hermes (15 February 2019). "ISIS militants mount desperate last stand in 1-sq-km 'caliphate'". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
^"The International Coalition continues its attack with the SDF on the last 4 square km remained for the organization that is collapsed almost completely amid fears for the lives of the citizens remaining in the area". The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
^"SDF attack Islamic State group's Syria enclave Baghuz". BBC. 10 March 2019.
^Cite error: The named reference battleover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Borger, Julian (14 November 2021). "US claims 2019 airstrike that hit Syrian women and children was justified". the Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^Gritten, David (18 May 2022). "US military probe finds no wrongdoing in deadly Syria air strike". BBC. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
and 17 Related for: Battle of Baghuz Fawqani information
The BattleofBaghuzFawqani was an offensive by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), assisted by Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve...
The Battleof Khasham, also known as the Battleof Conoco Fields, was a military engagement of the Syrian civil war fought on 7 February 2018 near the...
Syrian Democratic Forces in the BattleofBaghuzFawqani, the ultimately successful operation to capture the Al-BaghuzFawqani, the final town held by ISIL...
the BattleofBaghuzFawqani including an alleged massacre of civilian human shields on 19 March. By 2020, Airwars had recorded a five-year total of 14...
2019, Al-BaghuzFawqani, Syria) was a purported veteran jihadist terrorist loyal to the Islamic State. He had French nationality and was of Réunionnais...
was stationed.: 31–35 Greene and Aliya Abdul Haqq survived the BattleofBaghuzFawqani in 2019 and appeared on the Popular Front podcast in 2020. Trinidad...
terror group lost its last remaining territory in Syria during the battleofBaghuzFawqani and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died during a US special forces...
in commemoration of Nakba Day. Troops of the Free Palestine Movement also operated in Hama in late 2017, and fought in the Battleof Deir ez-Zor (September–November...
campaign in central Syria in the summer of 2017 and the Battleof Deir ez-Zor in late 2017. They were in the role of frontline advisors, fire and movement...
2019, ISIL was defeated territorially in Syria after losing the BattleofBaghuzFawqani, after which the group was forced into an insurgency. ISIL's leader...
The group controlled portions of territory in Iraq and Syria in the mid-2010s and has taken part in many attacks, battles and wars. Since late 2013, the...
bin Laden Death of Osama bin Laden U.S. Army's Delta Force War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) BattleofBaghuzFawqani — The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's...
outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah assets within the country. With the onset of the...
declared military victory over ISIL on 23 March 2019 following the BattleofBaghuzFawqani, although the group maintains a scattered presence and sleeper...
Beginning in 2012, dozens of girls and women traveled to Iraq and Syria to join the Islamic State (IS), becoming brides of Islamic State fighters. While...
facto alternative government of the Syrian opposition in Idlib Governorate, formed in early November 2017 under the initiative of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)...