Rebel advance On 4 August 2013, an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 rebel fighters, 300 of them foreigners, Rebel tanks were also deployed, firing on the villages. Throughout the day, ambulances rushed wounded government fighters to
Latakia city from the frontline. As for rebel casualties, Tunisians, Libyans, Saudis, and Jordanians were among those reported killed in the initial attacks. In one instance during the fighting, a foreign rebel suicide-bomber detonated his car killing at least 15 NDF militiamen and Army soldiers. By the end of the first day of fighting, rebels had seized five villages and captured 400 Alawite villagers and pro-government militiamen, including a pro-government Alawite cleric, Badr Ghazal. Later, it was reported that opposition forces had captured Aramo, along with one other village. Rebels also made attempts to advance in the
Jabal Turkman mountain area. However, during the second day of the fighting, government forces launched a counter-attack and managed to recapture one of the five villages they lost the previous day, Beit al-Shakuhi. The counter-attack came as fresh government reinforcements started to arrive in an attempt to push back the rebels. SOHR also reported that a number of executions had been conducted during the course of the offensive. Four hilltop military posts that were shelling rebel-held villages were also reportedly captured by opposition forces. Two days later, SOHR confirmed that dozens of Alawite civilians had been killed in the area. Other activists also reported 60 civilians had been killed in the offensive. On 9 August 2013, opposition activists reported that FSA commanders had issued orders to their battalions in the province to halt their advances and retreat from villages they had captured, the reason being that arms supplies to the rebels had been halted in the previous hours. However, senior FSA sources denied that a retreat order was issued. One opposition activist stated that rebel fighters actually rejected the FSA's request to retreat due to the arms shortage and resorted to using the ammunition they seized from government forces during the fighting. Later during the day, the Syrian Army attacked three villages, with state media claiming the military managed to recapture all three. However, activists stated government forces managed to recapture one village, while fighting was still ongoing in the other two. However, the village had already been confirmed as captured by rebel forces at the start of the offensive days earlier. By 11 August, reports emerged of mass civilian killings by rebel forces in the captured Alawite villages, as well as the abduction of hundreds of others.
Army counter-attack On 16 August 2013, the military launched a counter-attack, reportedly quickly capturing two villages. Later, the SOHR acknowledged that the military made gains and recaptured several Alawite villages during the day. They added that the Army killed scores of foreign fighters, including a Libyan emir of the al-Qaeda-linked group
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The air force bombarded rebel positions in the Jabal al-Akrad mountains, during which a fighter jet was reportedly shot down and its pilot captured by the rebels. from which the rebels launched their offensive. Opposition activists confirmed the Army recaptured nine Alawite villages, but stated that fighting was still ongoing in two more. Government troops had also retaken all of the military observation posts which rebels seized at the start of their offensive. It was later confirmed that all of the villages had been recaptured by the military. More than a month after the offensive had ended, additional reports emerged of civilian killings by rebel fighters. According to one report, two mass graves were found. Kidnapped women had also been shipped off in trucks to be raped by rebel fighters. 62–140 civilians were estimated to had been massacred, with another 105–199 missing or confirmed as kidnapped. On 11 October,
Human Rights Watch released a report which stated that, after an investigation, they found grave violations of human rights by opposition forces, for example executions, unlawful killings, and hostage-taking. According to the report, 190 civilians were killed by rebel forces, including at least 67 of the victims being executed or unlawfully killed, although the number could be higher. Human Rights Watch stated that most of those killed were either intentionally or indiscriminately killed by opposition forces. More than 200 hostages, primarily women and children, continued to be held by Islamist forces. Human Rights Watch further stated, that two
Kuwaiti nationals, Sheikh
Hajjej al-Ajami and Shafi al-Ajami, apparently had a prominent role in collecting financial resources for the operation. ==See also==