Palmyra offensive (December 2016)
The Palmyra offensive in December 2016 was a military operation launched by the military of ISIL which led to the re-capture of the ancient city of Palmyra, and an unsuccessful ISIL attack on the Tiyas T-4 Airbase to the west of the city.[5][35] ISIL previously controlled the city from May 2015 until March 2016.
For the previous offensives, see Palmyra offensive (May 2015), Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015), and Palmyra offensive (March 2016).
The unexpected blitz offensive occurred concurrently with three major anti-ISIL offensives: the Turkish Western al-Bab offensive and Battle of al-Bab north of Aleppo, the Kurdish-Arab Raqqa campaign, and the Iraqi Battle of Mosul in Iraq, which saw all three gaining ground from the Islamic State.
In January 2017, the Syrian Army and allied forces launched another offensive to recapture Palmyra and its surrounding areas.
Background[edit]
ISIL captured the ancient city of Palmyra in May 2015 after the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) withdrew from the town.[42] The Syrian Army recaptured the city in March 2016.[43] The group however still held territory in the eastern Homs Governorate and had started carrying out insurgent attacks on the Syrian Army after losing the city.[44] The city is historically and internationally important and the offensive comes at the same time that ISIL is being targeted militarily at its headquarters of Mosul and Raqqa.[45] Palmyra is also strategically important as it is close to oil fields. The offensive was launched at a moment when the Syrian and Russian militaries were focused on the Aleppo offensive.[46] The Tiyas Military Airbase is near to the city. It is an important security installation for the Syrian Army as it provides them with close air support. It would also be difficult to recapture Palmyra without it.[47][48]
Diplomatic reactions[edit]
On 12 December 2016, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented that the Islamic State's offensive in Palmyra may have been "orchestrated" to distract forces from militants in eastern Aleppo, and ISIL's reinforcements then moved from Mosul to Palmyra via routes which could have been blocked by the US-led coalition's aviation. A spokesman for Russian Defense Ministry Igor Konashenkov stated that the Islamic State made use of pause in the Mosul and Raqqah offensives to shift reinforcements to Palmyra, and that ISIL were sure that these offensives would not be immediately renewed. Konashenkov commented that the government setbacks at Palmyra shows that the Islamic State should not be allowed to regroup.[103][104]
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that the proof of Russia's stated aim of targeting militants in Syria being false lay in reports that ISIL had retaken Palmyra, while accusing it of being there to save Assad's government and "making Aleppo fall".[105]