Qalamoun offensive (2017)
The Qalamoun offensive (2017) was a military operation launched by Hezbollah, the Syrian Armed Forces, and later the Lebanese Armed Forces, against members of Tahrir al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the Lebanon–Syria border. The Lebanese Army denied any coordination with Hezbollah or the Syrian Arab Army.[21][22][23]
Aftermath[edit]
On 29 August, a first convoy of about 400 ISIL fighters and their families were transported from the Lebanon-Syria border towards Abu Kamal in Deir ez-Zour. As the convoy of evacuated ISIL fighters and their families moved from the exchange point toward Abu Kamal, it was bombed by CJTF–OIR. The coalition stated that it "was not a party to any agreement between Lebanese Hezbollah, the Syrian regime and ISIS" and that it would not allow the "further transport of ISIS fighters to the border area of our Iraqi partners". CJTF–OIR also claimed that their attack had only targeted the road and "individual vehicles and fighters that were clearly identified as ISIS", not the civilians accompanying the convoy.[36][8][35] Consequently, the convoy of ISIL fighters became stranded in central Syria between Humayma and al-Sukna as the coalition maintained that they would not allow the convoy to continue.[37] After hearing of this convoy's fate, a second group of 113 ISIL militants and their families from Qalamoun decided to refrain from trying to reach Abu Kamal. Instead, they left ISIL and fully surrendered to the Syrian government, which settled them in Palmyra under security supervision.[38]