July 15–18, 2012
Rebels launched 'Operation Damascus Volcano' on July 15, 2012, simultaneously attacking multiple districts of the capital in the most audacious offensive of the war's first year. A suicide bomb two days into the battle killed the Syrian defense minister, the deputy defense minister, and Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat at a National Security headquarters meeting — the highest-level assassination of the conflict. Despite shocking the regime and briefly seizing several suburbs, rebel forces lacked the manpower to hold ground against armored counterattacks and were pushed back within days, demonstrating both the rebels' capability to threaten the capital and their inability to deliver a decisive blow.
Commanders