The September 2011 – March 2012 Idlib Governorate clashes were the violent incidents that took place in Idlib Governorate, a province of Syria, from September 2011 and prior to the April 2012 Idlib Governorate Operation.
The Free Syrian Army had been targeting Syrian Army military patrols in the governorate since October 2011. Protests had still continued in this governorate, but they were often dispersed with gunfire by security forces. On 19 December, it became clear that "Army defectors have taken control over some towns and villages, almost as though they have created some sort of safe area, where protesters from other regions were seeking a safe haven and where defectors were able to operate from", and Syrian Army forces launched an offensive on one area, massacring a large number of civilians in one village. Hundreds of troops have been filmed after switching sides in one village in the province's countryside, prompting residents to hoist a flag of independence.
Background
On 29 June, Syrian troops killed at least four civilians as army tanks and helicopters attacked a village in the northwestern province of Idlib, activists said, "The four died in random firing on the village of Rameh from tank machine guns, which has become customary in these unjustified assaults. The tanks started firing on surrounding woods then directed their fire on the village," Ammar Qarabi, president of the Syrian National Human Rights Organisation, told Reuters news agency from exile in Cairo.
On 2 July, Alarabiya reported of larger deployment of Syrian troops in the Idlib province, where some 16 civilians were killed on 1 July. Tanks were first reported to be moving toward Idlib city on 4 July, after massive anti-Government protests took place at the province. Yet, nightly protests still continued despite the siege.
Armed clashes
September 2011
On 8 September, Security forces abducted the 74-year-old brother of army defector Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Harmoush, one of the first defecting officers. Muhammad Harmoush was abducted and his body was later returned to his family when the soldiers raided his home in the village of Ibleen. It was also reported that three military defectors were killed in the raid and SANA, Syrian state television, reported that six of their soldiers were killed in the operation.
On 29 September, the Harmoush Battalion of the Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for an attack on security forces in the Jabal Zawiya area, killing a number of security personnel.
October 2011
Around 5 October, security forces raided villages close to the Turkish border, five villagers and seven soldiers were said to have died in clashes there.
Suspected deserters killed eight soldiers in simultaneous attacks on three army posts in the northern province of Idlib on 10 October.
One of the first reported engagements in the Province was on 18 October, when "Gunmen suspected of being army defectors blew up a bomb by remote control as an army vehicle passed by Ehssem in the countryside of the (northwestern province of Idlib), killing an officer and three soldiers, and wounding others," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (S.O.H.R.)
On 25 October, army defectors who defected during a military assault in the central province of Homs gathered and launched an assault on a road block, where many armored vehicles were said to have parked. The battle took place on the edge of Maarat al-Numaan, up to ten security agents were killed with an unknown number of defector casualties.
One of the earliest engagements in the province was on 30 October 2011, when a transporting security agents between the villages of al-Habit and Kafr Nabudah in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border was attacked "by armed men, probably deserters", the resulting battle leaving 10 security agents and one deserter dead.
November 2011
Five soldiers were killed in ambushes near Maarat al-Numaan on 10 November.
The Free Syrian Army (FSA), operated on 26 November 2011, when they killed eight regular Syrian Army soldiers and members of the security forces and wounded 40 more in an attack in Idlib in northwest Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said:
A group of deserters attacked a squad of soldiers and security agents in a convoy of seven vehicles, including three all-terrain vehicles, on the road from Ghadka to Maaret Numan.
The Britain-based watchdog said:
Eight were killed and at least 40 more were wounded. The deserters were able to withdraw without suffering any casualties.
The Free Syrian Army said in a statement it was behind the attack.