page_title: Battle of al-Bab
section_title: Turkish-backed forces enter al-Bab, Syrian Army reaches southern outskirts
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of al-Bab / The offensive / Turkish-backed forces enter al-Bab, Syrian Army reaches southern outskirts
caption_attribution_description: English: A simplified map of the final advances during the battle of Al Bab. Created in gimp 2.8. Influenced by many maps from creators: MrPenguin20, PetoLucem, Edmaps Syria, and so on.
context_page_description: The Battle of al-Bab was a battle for the city of al-Bab in the Aleppo Governorate during the Syrian Civil War that included a military offensive launched by Syrian rebel groups and the Turkish Armed Forces north of al-Bab, a separate Syrian Democratic Forces offensive east and west of the city, and another Syrian Army offensive from the south of the city. The northern Turkish-led forces intended to prevent the SDF taking al-Bab from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant by taking it themselves, as part of the Turkish military intervention in Syria. By the end of the battle, the Turkish-led forces had captured al-Bab, Qabasin, and Bizaah, while the Syrian Army captured Tadef and other areas further south, with the SDF making gains further to the east and the west.
  The battle was concurrent with the other anti-ISIL operations, including the Raqqa campaign launched by the SDF, the Battle of Mosul launched by the Iraqi forces, and the Palmyra offensive, which was successfully conducted by ISIL against Syrian government forces.
context_section_description: During the night of 7 February, Turkish forces and rebels launched an assault at Al-Bab, capturing several strategic hills and breaking into the city. The rebels captured several other sites including Aqil Mount, the nearby hospital, a youth housing area and a local roundabout in the west of the city.  On 9 February, the Syrian Army captured two villages to the south of al-Bab, putting them within 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of the city On the same day, three Turkish soldiers were killed while 11 others were injured in an unintentional airstrike on a building near al-Bab by the Russian Air Force, who said they believed it was occupied by ISIL fighters. Russian President Vladimir Putin offered condolences to Turkish President Erdoğan for the incident and blamed it on poor co-ordination between Turkish and Russian forces.  During the same day, Turkish-backed rebels assaulted ISIL positions inside the city after breaking through their defences. The rebels also stated that they had clashed with the Syrian Army for the first time in the battle, in a village to the southwest of the city. Turkish troops and rebels were also reported to have captured Qabasin and Bizaah, by Turkish media as well as rebel groups. These advances haven't been independently verified. The BBC stated that the towns were surrounded, with clashes ongoing.
  On 10 February, the Syrian Army captured Abu Taltal village to the south of the city, putting them within 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) of the city. On 11 February clashes were reported in the town of Tadef, less than 2 kilometres from Al-Bab, between Tiger Forces together with National Defense Forces fighting against ISIL. On the same day, Russian media reported that Tadef had been taken by the Syrian Army. The rebels also managed to capture several important points in al-Bab after an assault on the city, according to SOHR as well as rebel sources. The advance put one-tenth of the city under their control. They later recaptured Qabasin from ISIL. Later on the same day, it was reported that Turkish-backed forces had captured the Tadef roundabout, to the northwest of the town of Tadef, effectively cutting off the Syrian Army from Al-Bab.
  On 12 February, Turkish President Erdogan said that Turkish troops and their allies had entered the centre of al-Bab and had captured the most important point, the hospital hill. He added that establishing full control of the town was a "matter of time". According to pro-government sources, the rebels lost Qabasin again and failed in several attempts to recapture it, as well as Bizaah, but captured the Al-Rai and Al-Shehabi Farms at the northern entrance of al-Bab.
  On 12 February, the Syrian Army redirected its efforts from al-Bab into an offensive northeast of Kuweires airbase.
  Between 13 and 17 February, Turkish sources made multiple claims of large advances within al-Bab itself. According to a report by Hürriyet Daily News, the Turkish-backed rebels had captured 40% of al-Bab's city centre, while the Turkish Prime Minister claimed that al-Bab was largely under the control of Turkish-backed forces at the same time as the rebels lost territory inside al-Bab. On 17 February, Turkey's military claimed that it was close to capturing al-Bab. However, the SOHR disputed this, and cited local sources that stated that 90 percent of the city was still under the control of ISIL. The same day, ISIL recaptured some territory in al-Bab after a counter-attack.
caption: Map of the final advances, up to 23 February.
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