Raqqa campaign (2012–2013)
Part of theSyrian civil war
Top:Map showing rebel advances inRaqqa Governorate Bottom:Map showing rebel advances inRaqqa city itself   Syrian Army control   Syrian opposition control   Kurdish control
Date 19 September 2012 – 6 March 2013 (5 months, 2 weeks and 1 day) Location Raqqa Governorate, Syria Result Rebel victory Rebels captureRaqqa,al-Thawrah,Tell Abyad,Tabqa Dam, andBaath Dam Thousands of civilians displaced[4][5]
Belligerents
Syrian Islamic Front Al-Nusra Front Islamic Unity and Liberation Front (JWTI)[1][2] Free Syrian Army Supported by: Qatar[3] Turkey(border clashes)	Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Armed Forces
Commanders and leaders
Mohammad al-Daher[6] (Farouq Brigades commander) Dr. Samer[7] (JWTI leader) Abu Wael[8] (Jihad in the Path of God Brigade commander)	Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Halabi[5] (Raqqa state security head) Maj. Gen. Hassan Jalili (POW)[5][2] (Raqqa provincial governor) Suleiman Suleiman (POW)[5][2] (Raqqa provincial Baath party secretary general) Abu Jassim [9] (military intelligence commander)
Casualties and losses
At least 60 killed	At least 500 killed or captured

TheRaqqa campaign (2012–2013) was a series of battles and offensives launched by various Syrian rebel groups, led byAhrar al-Sham and theal-Nusra Front, againstSyrian government forces in theRaqqa Governorate as part of theSyrian civil war. The campaign was launched at the second half of 2012 and ended in the capture of the city ofRaqqa as well as dozens of smaller towns and facilities.

On 19 September 2012,Free Syrian Army rebels led by theFarouq Brigades captured the border town ofTell Abyad and itsborder crossing with the town ofAkçakale inTurkey.^[10] The next day, the Syrian Air Force bombed a petrol station in Tell Abyad, killing 30 civilians and wounding 70. A rebel fighter was also mortally wounded.^[11] In October, Syrian government forces launched a counteroffensive in Tell Abyad which resulted in aborder clash between Syria and Turkey.^[12]

On 12 October 2012, theal-Nusra Front andHarakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya attacked the Suluqbarracks in Raqqa and claimed to have killed 32 Syrian soldiers.^[13]

In November 2012, both the rebels and government forces set up checkpoints on the road betweenal-Thawrah (Tabqa) andAleppo. By the end of December, the majority of the Raqqa province were reportedly under rebel control, and rebel fighters entered al-Thawra.^[4]

On 10 January 2013, heavy clashes erupted in the town of al-Thawra and theSyrian Air Force in Tabqa airbase shelled the town withartillery. By 11 February, rebels led by the al-Nusra Front fully captured both the town and theTabqa Dam next to it.^[14]

On 6 March 2013,SunniIslamist rebel forces fully captured the city of Raqqa from Syrian government, forces after a 3-day battle. TheSyrian Army retreated to the military base of the17th Division, to the northeast of the city.^[5]

The al-Nusra Front andAhrar al-Sham implementedSharia in the towns they captured. By April 2013, hundreds ofAssyrians were displaced from al-Thawra.^[4]Christians, including those who supported the opposition, were kidnapped in Raqqa, al-Thawra, and Tel Abyad by al-Nusra and theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIL also carried outpublic executions of dozens of people in the towns byfiring squad.Political activism was also suppressed, severalchurches andmosques were burned, and hundreds ofArmenians fled Raqqa.^[5]

Free Syrian Army-affiliated groups

• Revolutionary Military Council of Raqqa^[15]
  • Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades^[16]
    • Muntasir Billah Brigade^[17][3]
  • Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade^[15]
  • Northern Storm Brigade^[9]
  • Katina’s Anwar al-Haqq^[15]
  • Custodian of Ummah Phalange^[9]
  • Al-Baraa ibn Malik Phalange^[9]
  • Al-Hamzah Phalange^[9]
  • Muadh ibn Jabal Phalange^[9]
  • Revolution Storm Brigade^[9]
  • Al-Quds Phalange^[9]
  • Northern Lions Phalange^[9]
  • Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz Phalange^[9]
  • Al-Baz al-Ashhab Phalange^[9]
  • Arab Spring Phalange^[9]
  • Prophet Offspring Brigade^[9]
  • Lights of Righteousness Phalange^[9]
  • Aisha bint Abu Bakr Phalange^[9]
  • 101st Phalange^[9]
  • Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Phalange^[9]
  • Peninsula Free Phalange^[9]
  • Euphrates Saraya^[9]
  • Jerusalem and the Soldiers of Allah Phalange^[9]
  • Special Operations Phalange^[9]
  • Jihad for Allah Phalange^[9]
  • Ar-Rahman Detonators Phalange^[9]
  • Righteousness Phalange^[9]
  • Ar-Raqqah Martyrs Phalange^[9]
  • Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan Phalange^[9]
  • Euphrates Free Phalange^[9]
  • Saladin Phalanges^[9]
  • Resafa Brigade^[9]
• Farouq Brigades^[6]
• Conquest Brigade
  • Ghuraba al-Sham Battalion^[18]
• Liwa Owais al-Qorani^[9]
• Euphrates Knights Brigade^[9]
• Free Tabqa Brigade^[19]

Independent Islamist groups

• Syrian Islamic Front^[4]
  • Ahrar al-Sham^[19]
    • Liwa Umana al-Raqqa^[9]
• Ghuraba al-Sham^[6]
• Islamic Unity and Liberation Front (alliance of several Islamist militias)^[1][2]
• Nasr Saladin Brigade^[5]
• Liwa Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman^[9]
• Katibat Hudheifa bin al-Yaman^[20]
• Katibat Mohammed bin Abdullah^[20]
• Katibat Musaib bin Umair^[19]
• Katibat Abu Dujana^[19]
• Katibat Saraya al-Furat^[19]
• Katibat Shuhada al-Jamaa Jund al-Rahman^[19]
• Katibat Ahrar al-Badiyah^[19]
• Al-Fajr Islamic Movement^[4][19]
  • Katibat al-Bara'^[20]
  • Katibat Saraya al-Furat^[19]

Al-Qaeda affiliates and otherSalafist jihadists

• Shura Council Front^[7]
  • Al-Nusra Front^[19]
• Muhajireen Battalion^[4]
• Liwa al-Haqq (Idlib)
• Katibat Usud al-Sunna^[21] (part ofMujahideen Shura Council)

Syrian Armed Forces

• Syrian Army
  • 17th Division
• Syrian Air Force^[22]
• National Defence Forces
• Military Intelligence Directorate^[2]
• Political Security Directorate^[1][2]

• Battle of Tell Abyad (2013)
• 2015 Idlib offensive
• Raqqa campaign (2016–2017)

• Winter, Lucas (2014).Raqqa: From Regime overthrow to inter-rebel fighting.Foreign Military Studies Office.
• Lister, Charles R. (2015).The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency.Oxford:Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-061318-1.

• Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2012
• Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2013
• Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the al-Nusra Front
• Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian government
• Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
• Campaigns of the Syrian civil war

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