Wadi Barada offensive (2016–2017)

Wadi Barada offensive (2016–2017)
	Part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign and Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War
	; Government advances in Wadi Barada between 6 and 15 January 2017.
Date	23 December 2016 – 29 January 2017; (1 month and 6 days)
Location	Wadi Barada, al-Zabadani District, Rif Dimashq Governorate, Syria
Result	Decisive Syrian Army and allies victory Syrian Army captures the Barada river valley;
Belligerents
Syrian Arab Republic; Russia (from 2017); Hezbollah; Galilee Forces	Ahrar al-Sham; Jaysh al-Islam; Free Syrian Army; Al-Nusra Front
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Gen. Ali Mahmoud; (leading operations commander); Col. Ghiath Dalla; (leading operations co-commander); Gen. Maher al-Assad; (4th Armoured Division commander); Brig. Gen. Ahmad Ghadban †; (Syrian Army commander & chief negotiator)	Abu al-Baraa (Hassan Soufan); (Ahrar al-Sham commander); Col. Hammoud Douka †; (FSA top commander)
Units involved
Syrian Armed Forces Syrian Army 4th Armoured Division 42nd Brigade; ; Republican Guard; Rocket Battalion; Qalamoun Shield Forces; ; National Defence Forces; Syrian Air Force; ; Russian Armed Forces Russian Air Force; ;	Free Syrian Army Saraya Ahl al-Sham Western Qalamoun Union Levant Liberation Army Martyr Mohammed Qassem Brigade; ; ; ; Abdal al-Sham; Zabandani Hawks Brigade; ; Ahrar al-Sham Al-Hamza Battalion; ; Joint Defence Alliance;
Strength
5,000+	2,000+ (as of 1 January 2017); 500 (pro-government claim, after 26 January 2017)
Casualties and losses
7+ killed (January 2017)	Unknown killed; 700 surrendered (SOHR claim); 2,600 surrendered (government claim)
	21+ civilians killed, 23 wounded (December 2016, January 2017);; 50,000 displaced

The Wadi Barada offensive (2016–2017) was a military operation against rebel-held villages in the Barada River valley by the Syrian Army and allied forces, including pro-government militias and Lebanese Hezbollah between December 2016 and January 2017. The Barada River valley includes the village of Ain al-Fijah which holds a water spring that provides drinking water to towns throughout the Rif Dimashq Governorate. During the offensive, a Government airstrike temporarily destroyed the spring, in what the United Nations has called a "war crime".