Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon
| Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Arab Winter, the Spillover of the Syrian Civil War and the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict | |||||||||
Lebanese army's 4th Intervention Regiment personnel on Syria Street, guarding the road between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in 2011 | |||||||||
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| Main belligerents | |||||||||
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Support: Pro-Assad militant groups:
Support: Other militias: |
Support: Al-Qaeda and allies:
Islamic State | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Abdullah Hussein al-Rifai †
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 12,000 soldiers mobilized |
1,500–4,000+ fighters 7,000 fighters | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 61 soldiers killed (See here.) |
In clashes with Lebanese Army:700+ captured (Lebanese Army claim) In clashes with Hezbollah: Unknown | ||||||||
| ~350 civilians killed | |||||||||
| a The al-Nusra Front closely cooperated with ISIL between 2013 and 2014, were considered "frenemies" in 2015, and became embroiled in open conflict with it in 2017. | |||||||||
Between 2011 and 2017, fighting from the Syrian civil war spilled over into Lebanon as opponents and supporters of the Ba'athist Syrian regime traveled to Lebanon to fight and attack each other on Lebanese soil. The Syrian conflict stoked a resurgence of sectarian violence in Lebanon, with many of Lebanon's Sunni Muslims and Lebanon's Christians supporting the rebels in Syria, while many of Lebanon's Shi'a Muslims supporting the Ba'athist government of Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite minority is usually described as a heterodox offshoot of Shi'ism. Killings, unrest and sectarian kidnappings across Lebanon resulted.
The conflict arose in mid-2011, when seven people were killed and 59 wounded in a fight between gunmen in Tripoli. In May 2012, the conflict spread to Beirut, and later to south and east Lebanon, while the Lebanese Armed Forces deployed in north Lebanon and Beirut. As of January 2016, there had been more than 800 fatalities and almost 3,000 injuries. Among Lebanon's political blocs, the Saudi-backed anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance supports the Syrian opposition, and the Iranian-backed pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance supports the Assad government. On 28 August 2017, the last remaining fighters of IS and Tahrir al-Sham withdrew from Lebanon.