Battle of Qamishli (2016)
# Battle of Qamishli (2016)

vteSyrian civil war :

Timeline

January–April 2011

May–August 2011

September–December 2011

January–April 2012

May–August 2012

September–December 2012

January–April 2013

May–December 2013

January–July 2014

August–December 2014

January–July 2015

August–December 2015

January–April 2016

May–August 2016

September–December 2016

January–April 2017

May–August 2017

September–December 2017

January–April 2018

May–August 2018

September–December 2018

January–April 2019

May–August 2019

September–December 2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

Background and causes

Casualties

Cities

map

Terrorism

Massacres :

The 2016 Battle of Qamishli was a violent urban battle between the Asayish police of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the pro-Syrian government National Defence Forces in the city of Qamishli, Syria.

## The battle

On 20 April 2016, National Defence Forces militias attacked an Asayish patrol when Kurdish police failed to stop at a government checkpoint inside the Qamishli District. According to Kurdish sources the NDF killed 2 Asayish members and 2 civilians with sniper fire. Additional clashes then escalated between the two factions, with Asayish forces taking part in the fighting, killing 8 NDF members and arresting others.

The next day, the Asayish encircled government forces in the center of the city, taking over a bakery and the besieged Allaya Prison, with five Asayish fighters being killed. 45 NDF militiamen surrendered and several civilians were killed. During the battle Asayish forces removed a poster of Bashar al-Assad in captured areas. In response, the Syrian Army shelled the prison and surrounding areas with mortars, killing 4 civilians in the nearby neighborhoods. On the same day, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed a car bomb attack that killed and wounded 15 Kurdish fighters in the city. In the evening, the NDF and Sootoro reversed some of Asayish's gains and captured two checkpoints, a stadium, and a hospital in the city.

An indefinite ceasefire was declared on 22 April. According to the ceasefire agreement, each side will keep the territory under its control. The ceasefire gave the Kurds control of more territory in Northern Syria.

## Aftermath

Nearly two dozen of the captured pro-government fighters were subsequently released under the terms of the ceasefire on 25 April.

