Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017)

Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017)
	Part of the Syrian civil war and the Russian military intervention in Syria
	; Controlled by the Syrian government; Controlled by the Syrian opposition; Controlled by the Iraqi government; Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant;
Date	7 May – 13 July 2017; (2 months and 6 days)
Location	Syrian Desert, Syria South, eastern and central Homs Governorate; Eastern as-Suwayda Governorate; South and eastern Rif Dimashq Governorate;
Status	Decisive Syrian Army and allies victory In late May, Syrian Army captured over 20,000 km2 of territory, including the Damascus–Palmyra highway and a large part of the eastern half of As-Suwayda province; Syrian Army secured part of Syrian–Iraqi border for the first time since 2015, at the same time erasing the frontline between US-backed forces and ISIL; Syrian Army approaches and enters the province of Deir ez-Zor Governorate from the south, cutting the Al-Qaim-Al-Sukhnah road; By mid-July, Syrian Army captured 3,000 km2 of territory from the FSA in the northeastern part As-Suwayda province and southern Rif Dimashq province;
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The Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017) was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army that initially started along the highway from Damascus to the border with Iraq against rebel forces during the Syrian civil war. Its first intended goal was to capture both the highway and the al-Tanf border crossing, thus securing the Damascus countryside from a potential rebel attack. Later, multiple other fronts were opened as part of the operation throughout the desert, as well as operation "Grand Dawn" against ISIL with the aim of reopening the Damascus-Palmyra highway and preparing for an offensive towards Deir ez-Zor.

Since 2016, the United States and the United Kingdom operated and manned a training facility in al-Tanf (the "Al Tanf Garrison"), with their special operations troops advising a Syrian rebel group known as the Revolutionary Commando Army. The garrison was reinforced in May, and then expanded in June 2017, with more advanced US offensive weapons, including the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. On a number of occasions, US forces struck advancing pro-government troops and militia in what US forces dubbed "self-defense strikes".