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The Battle of Damascus, also known as Operation Damascus Volcano, started on 15 July 2012 during the Syrian uprising. It is unclear who started it. Per some reports thousands of rebels attacked the capital from the surrounding countryside while per others the military learned of the large-scale rebel operation beforehand and made a preemptive strike.
Battle
On 15 July, fierce fighting was reported in some quarters of central Damascus as the army moved in to dislodge rebels. The rebels fighting were the ones who were routed from Douma and other suburbs and fled to Damascus itself. Fighting also closed the road leading from central Damascus to airport.
On 16 July, for a second day, heavy clashes in the southern Midan and Tadhamon districts of Damascus raged with the military managing to surround the rebel forces in the area and sending tanks and other armored vehicles into the neighborhoods. The FSA had reportedly taken control of the two districts earlier and the military was making attempts to overrun it. The rebels called the clashes a raid by them against the capital, while the government called it a 48-hour military operation to clear the area of any opposition forces. There were also indications that the government knew about the planned rebel raid and acted on the information. According to state TV, the military killed over 80 rebel fighters during the fighting.
On 17 July, shooting was reported in one of the main central streets and machine-gun fire was reported in nearby Sabaa Bahrat Square, site of the Central Bank of Syria, which was the scene of several major pro-government demonstrations. A brief firefight also erupted near the Syrian parliament building. Fighting was ongoing in the southern Midan and Kfar Sousa districts and the northern Barzeh and Qabun districts. Artillery shelling was reported in all of them and specifically in Midan it was reported to be "hysterical", according to activists. At the same time, in Barzeh and Qabun, helicopter rocket strikes were reported. Later, helicopter strikes were reportedly hitting all four neighborhoods. Army reinforcements were sent from the Golan Heights to help defend the capital. This was confirmed by Israeli army intelligence. "The Syrian military is acting very brutally, which shows the regime is desperate. Its control of Damascus is getting weaker," Maj-Gen Aviv Kochavi told a parliamentary committee in Israel.
The rebels claimed to had killed 70 soldiers and pro-government militiamen in the previous two days of clashes, while the government reported 14 rebel vehicles were destroyed. An activist, Shakeeb al-Jabri, claimed that more than 200 soldiers had been killed or wounded in total. A deputy police chief, Brigadier General Issa Duba, was said to have died from wounds sustained during the clashes, according to a pro-Assad website. The FSA stated they destroyed one armored vehicle and captured another and that, among the members of the Syrian military who were killed, were several rooftop snipers. The opposition also claimed to had shot down an army helicopter in the Qaboun district. There were contradictions among the rebels themselves on the nature of the conflict. One FSA commander claimed that the Battle for liberation of Damascus had begun, with another dubbing it Operation Damascus Volcano. But Tarek, the rebel spokesman in Damascus, stated the clashes were still only skirmishes. He also said the FSA didn't start the battle, which would be in line with earlier reports that the military made a preemptive strike on the opposition forces, after learning of their plan for the attack on the capital. Government Information Minister Omran Zoabi stated that the military confronted rebel forces who infiltrated the city, surrounded them and forced many to retreat, while the rest were still being dealt with.
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Free Syrian Army
