Raqqa 2013 — First Modern War Journal Write-Up

http://www.modernwar.games/game-overview/florida/

I’ve been planning on writing up scenarios for a while in greater detail with the intention of publishing the War Blog Modern War Journal. Each journal will detail 10 engagements.

The Battle of Raqqa (March 2013) took place over three days, 3 March to 6 March 2013.

It involved the units from the Muntasir Billah Brigade, FSA (Free Syrian Army), Jabhat an-Nusra, Ahrar ash-Sham (part of the Syrian Islamic Front) and the brigade of Huthaya bin al-Yaman against major elements of the Syrian 17th Division.

The battle was also known as the Raid of the Almighty by the rebel forces.

The battle was noted for the withdrawal of the 17th Division who mainly left without a fight and then retreated west and east.

The city was guarded essentially at four checkpoints and it was the eastern checkpoint that fell first after Muntasir Billah Brigade and al-Nusra Front units approached and the Syrian forces there pulled out without a fight and retreated north.

The forces attacked the city from the north and east.

Units involved under the Raqqa Liberation Front were:

• Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades
• Liwa Owais al-Qorani
• Muntasir Billah Brigade
• Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade
• Euphrates Knights Brigade
• Islamic Unity and Liberation Front
• Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman Brigade
• Victory of Saladin Battalions

The Brigade of the Trustees of Raqqa force was under the command of Ahrar ash-Sham whilst the Ghuraba al-Sham Battalion was commanded by the Conquest Brigade.

Their forces totalled about 7,000, verses an estimate total of 400 Syrian soliders.

The rebel forces were mostly Sunni Islamists.

As the forces approached from the north and the east, the main bulk of the Syrian 17th Division forces that were there moved away, giving up the eastern check point without a fight.

Although the main bulk of the Syrian forces left the city without a fight, there were loyalist forces that held out until the 6 March 2013. However, they too were also defeated.

After the fall of the city, the Syrian airforce carried out 25 air-strikes against the city in the hope of dislodging the rebel forces.

Raqqa was the first city to fall to the rebel forces in the Syrian Civil War. It was later recaptured in 2017.

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