The September 2011 – March 2012 Idlib Governorate clashes were the violent incidents that took place in Idlib Governorate, a province of Syria, from September 2011 and prior to the April 2012 Idlib Governorate Operation.
The Free Syrian Army had been targeting Syrian Army military patrols in the governorate since October 2011. Protests had still continued in this governorate, but they were often dispersed with gunfire by security forces. On 19 December, it became clear that "Army defectors have taken control over some towns and villages, almost as though they have created some sort of safe area, where protesters from other regions were seeking a safe haven and where defectors were able to operate from", and Syrian Army forces launched an offensive on one area, massacring a large number of civilians in one village. Hundreds of troops have been filmed after switching sides in one village in the province's countryside, prompting residents to hoist a flag of independence.
Background
On 29 June, Syrian troops killed at least four civilians as army tanks and helicopters attacked a village in the northwestern province of Idlib, activists said, "The four died in random firing on the village of Rameh from tank machine guns, which has become customary in these unjustified assaults. The tanks started firing on surrounding woods then directed their fire on the village," Ammar Qarabi, president of the Syrian National Human Rights Organisation, told Reuters news agency from exile in Cairo.
On 2 July, Alarabiya reported of larger deployment of Syrian troops in the Idlib province, where some 16 civilians were killed on 1 July. Tanks were first reported to be moving toward Idlib city on 4 July, after massive anti-Government protests took place at the province. Yet, nightly protests still continued despite the siege.
Armed clashes
September 2011
On 8 September, Security forces abducted the 74-year-old brother of army defector Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Harmoush, one of the first defecting officers. Muhammad Harmoush was abducted and his body was later returned to his family when the soldiers raided his home in the village of Ibleen. It was also reported that three military defectors were killed in the raid and SANA, Syrian state television, reported that six of their soldiers were killed in the operation.
On 29 September, the Harmoush Battalion of the Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for an attack on security forces in the Jabal Zawiya area, killing a number of security personnel.
October 2011
Around 5 October, security forces raided villages close to the Turkish border, five villagers and seven soldiers were said to have died in clashes there.
Suspected deserters killed eight soldiers in simultaneous attacks on three army posts in the northern province of Idlib on 10 October.
One of the first reported engagements in the Province was on 18 October, when "Gunmen suspected of being army defectors blew up a bomb by remote control as an army vehicle passed by Ehssem in the countryside of the (northwestern province of Idlib), killing an officer and three soldiers, and wounding others," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (S.O.H.R.)
On 25 October, army defectors who defected during a military assault in the central province of Homs gathered and launched an assault on a road block, where many armored vehicles were said to have parked. The battle took place on the edge of Maarat al-Numaan, up to ten security agents were killed with an unknown number of defector casualties.
One of the earliest engagements in the province was on 30 October 2011, when a transporting security agents between the villages of al-Habit and Kafr Nabudah in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border was attacked "by armed men, probably deserters", the resulting battle leaving 10 security agents and one deserter dead.
November 2011
Five soldiers were killed in ambushes near Maarat al-Numaan on 10 November.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA), operated on 26 November 2011, when they killed eight regular Syrian Army soldiers and members of the security forces and wounded 40 more in an attack in Idlib in northwest Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said:
A group of deserters attacked a squad of soldiers and security agents in a convoy of seven vehicles, including three all-terrain vehicles, on the road from Ghadka to Maaret Numan.
The Britain-based watchdog said:
Eight were killed and at least 40 more were wounded. The deserters were able to withdraw without suffering any casualties.
The Free Syrian Army said in a statement it was behind the attack.
On 27 November, a person was killed in the Kafr Nabl area of Idlib province in the northwest after being arrested by security forces "for selling fuel to militants," the Syrian observatory for human rights claimed.
On 29 November, the FSA launched an attack that killed three government soldiers and captured two others, and then government forces later shot dead a civilian.
At least six anti-government demonstrators were shot dead when security forces broke up an anti-government demonstration in the city of Idlib on 30 November. "They have not blocked protests in Idlib for weeks. Today they fired at a crowd thousands who were marching from a roundabout to the main Mohafaza Square," said Fares, an activist.
December 2011
On 1 December, FSA troops launched a raid on an intelligence building in Idlib, leading to a three-hour fire fight in which eight loyalists were killed.
On 3 December, seven members of the security forces, five army rebels and three civilians were killed in a three-hour night-time battle in Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On 5 December, at least a dozen Syrian secret police defected from an intelligence compound, in what appeared to be the first major desertion from a service that acted as a pillar of President Assad's rule. A gunfight then broke out overnight after the defectors fled the Airforce Intelligence complex in the center of Idlib city, northwest of Damascus. Ten people were killed or wounded on both sides, the activists said, according to Reuters.
On 8 December, in Idlib, military forces raided houses and arrested three militants, in the vicinity of Saraqib, while some 50 armoured vehicles, including tanks and troop carriers, came under attack in the village of al-Rami. On the same day, three more protesters were killed in Idlib by security forces, as well as Mohammad Amin Subhi al-Najjar, an army defector from Aleppo, was also killed.
On 10 December, Syrian security forces shot and killed four civilians, when they opened fire with live ammunition and tear gas on mourners in the northwest, a human rights group reported. "Four civilians were killed on Saturday after shots and tear gas were fired during the funeral of a child who was killed last night (Friday) in the city of Maaret Numan" in the northwestern province of Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. According to Syrian state media, three rebels died planting a bomb and were buried in a park. This could not be verified.
On 12 December two protesters and five soldiers were reported killed.
On 13 December, violence flared in the province. Firstly, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that army defectors in Idlib's Bab al-Hawa road killed seven members of Syria's security forces in retaliation for an attack that cost the lives of 11 civilians. On the same day, five more civilians were shot dead by security forces while official Syrian state media SANA stated that armed terrorists.
On 19 December, the FSA suffered its largest loss of life when new defectors tried to abandon their positions and bases between the villages of Kansafra and Kafr Oweid in Idlib province. Activist groups, specifically the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, reported that 72 defectors were killed as they were gunned down during their attempted escape. The Syrian Army lost three soldiers during the clashes. The next day, S.O.H.R. stated that in all 100 defectors were killed or wounded. Also, the same day, the Syrian Observatory for human rights reported the killing by government security forces of at least 111 civilians in the province. It had been called a "massacre", 37 civilians had also been killed the previous day.
Alaa El Din Al Youssef, a Syrian opposition member in Idlib, described the government's attack on the area of Idlib and Jabal al-Zawiya as a massacre.
"Civilians were surrounded by security forces who killed 100 of us. The corpses of those killed were left in the streets and the mosques and we are not allowed to bury any of them."
"Some of those killed cannot be recognised. Some were burnt and some beheaded with their hands tied. We are really scared because the area might be stormed once again."
The clashes continued into the next day, and another report, by Lebanese human rights activist Wissam Tarif, put the death toll even higher with 163 defectors, 97 government troops and nine civilians killed on the second day alone as the military tracked down the soldiers and civilian that managed to initially escape. On 21 December, it was reported that the FSA had taken control over large swathes of Idlib province including some towns and villages.
On 30 December, more than 250,000 anti-government protesters took to the streets in the province of Idlib.
January 2012
Army defectors captured dozens of members of the security forces by seizing two checkpoints in the new year on 2 January, the opposition said. Army defectors also clashed with security forces at a third checkpoint, killing and wounding an unspecified number of troops loyal to Assad, opposition activists said.
On 3 January the SANA (Syrian state news) claimed gunmen had shot dead a police officer at al-Khudra market, Idlib.
On 6 January, SANA claimed that a policeman was killed while on patrol in the Idlib area.
On 12 January SANA claimed that eight security forces were killed in an attack on their bus near Jbala crossroads, 5 km north of Khan Shaykhun.
On 17 January accord to claims made by SANA, two policemen were shot dead outside Idlib central prison and the bodies of three soldiers and a contractor were found with bullet wounds in a graveyard.
On 19 January, Syrian security forces killed four leading pro-democracy activists in an ambush in northwestern Idlib province. The activists had gone into hiding with armed opponents of the Damascus government and were shot dead in the Zawiya hills close to the border with Turkey.
On 21 January 14 people were killed when a bus carrying prisoners was targeted by unknown gunmen. The vehicle was apparently targeted in Jisr al-Shughour area. The incident followed reports of heavy clashes between the army and defectors in Idlib. Opposition activists said nine regular troops were killed by defectors. Mohammad Fizzo, an activist on the Turkish side of the border, told Al Jazeera there were many injured on both sides. "A group of soldiers who defected were trying to escape to Turkey when the government forces raided the bordering villages of Ain al-Beida and Khirbet al-Joz using heavy weapons and mortars," he said. According to Al Jazeera, Idlib, the base of many defected soldiers, has become a stronghold of the armed opposition, which has been targeting army convoys to prevent them from regaining territory under the opposition's control. According to state media, two security forces were among the dead in the explosion on the prisoner bus.
Separately, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights reported that a member of the security forces was killed in fighting between dissidents and soldiers at Kafr Nabl, in the Zawiya mountains of Idlib province, with troops using heavy machine guns. 60 People, including civilians were said to have been killed that day.
On 23 January, S.O.H.R. reported that FSA and security forces clashed in Idlib on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, near Maarrat al-Nu'man, where eight soldiers were reported killed, and three armoured cars destroyed.
On 24 January, two policemen were killed when rebels opened fire on their car at Khan Shaykhun.
On 25 January, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, a humanitarian organization that provides medical aid and food to victims of the Syrian government's crackdown announced the death of their vice-president, Abdulrazak Jbeiro, saying he had been shot dead by security forces as he drove to Idlib. He was also the head official of Idlib governorate for the organization.
On 27 January, S.O.H.R reported that six members of the security forces were killed by a car bomb in the city of Idlib that targeted a security checkpoint, without providing any details on the identity of the assailants.
On 29 January it was said that ten members of the military died when their convoy was attacked at Kansafra in the Jabal al-Zawiya area. Eight others were killed in a separate attack in Idlib on the same day.