Siege of Al-Fu'ah-Kafriya (2015)

The Siege of Al-Fu'ah-Kafriya refers to a siege in the Idlib Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War. The siege was initiated with a rebel assault on the capital of the province, resulting in the capture of Idlib.

The siege

On 28 March 2015, after four days of fighting, rebels captured Idlib city and managed to besiege the towns of Kafriya and Al‐Fu'ah. Thousands of civilians were trapped since. The army of conquest and its main component Al-Nusra Front Alqaeda branch in Syria since then imposed a full siege blocking all humanitarian supplies to the towns and several executions were reported to happen in Idleb province for people accused to smuggle goods into Kafriya and Al‐Fu'ah

On 2 August, the Army of Conquest announced it would continue its operations against the besieged enclave of Kafriya and Al-Fu’ah. On 10 August, the rebels launched an assault on Al-Fu'ah, after detonating a VBIED and tunnel bomb, and advanced towards it.

On 31 August, rebels launched a powerful attack on the Shiite enclave and captured Al-Suwaghiyah, forcing the government fighters to retreat to Tal Khirbat.

It was promised by Ajnad Al-Sham that Kafriya and al-Fu'ah would be shelled with over 100 mortars every day.

Between 3 September and 5 September, Syrian rebels intensively shelled the enclave and launched a number of attacks on Al-Fu'ah (and Kafriya) from Maarrat Misrin, Al-Suwaghiyah and Idlib City. The attacks were repelled, with the Army reportedly destroying three armored vehicles.

On 18 September, rebels launched a new attack on the enclave, firing almost 400 shells and rockets, while nine VBIED's (including seven suicide bombers) were detonated at government positions. The clashes led to the death of at least 29 rebels and 21 government fighters, as well as seven civilians. The SOHR reported that the rebels gained ground.

On 19 September, rebels advanced again in the vicinity of al-Fuah, capturing Tal Al-Khirbat and a number of checkpoints around it. On the other hand, the government troops repelled the rebels attack on the nearby village of Deir Al-Zughb. According to government claims, the rebels lost over 100 fighters, including 31 from foreign countries.

The over all number of suicide bombers with VBIEDs that attacked Al-Fou’aa and Kafraya in the battle of September 19-19 was estimated to be 26 VBIEDs, the attackers were 11 Uyghur Chinese, one Lebanese, 2 Saudis and 11 Syrians

On 20 September, a second cease-fire in Al-Zabadani/Madaya and Al-Fou’aa/Kafriya was implemented, where the rebels allowed humanitarian aid to the besieged civilians of Al-Fou’aa and Kafriya. A violation of this cease-fire was reported the next day.

On 11 January 2016 the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Food Programme organized an aid convoy to deliver food, medicine and other aid to Kafriya and Al‐Fu'ah. Despite several humanitarian convoys entered the besieged area, the citizens are still suffering from very difficult survival conditions, basic medical care, vaccines and food are not available and Alqaeda fighters continue to bombard the towns causing daily casualties among civilians.