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Battle of al-Rai (August 2016)
	Part of the Syrian Civil War
	; Map of the greater campaign in the Aleppo Governorate which includes al-Rai
Date	15–20 August 2016 (5 days)
Location	Al-Bab District, northern Aleppo Governorate, Syria-Turkey border
Status	FSA victory First FSA attack on al-Rai repelled; The FSA gains full control over al-Rai after a second offensive; FSA repels a second ISIL counter-offensive;
Belligerents
Free Syrian Army; Supported by:; CJTF-OIR Turkey;	Islamic State
Commanders and leaders
Ismail Ahwaz; (FSA commander); Saleh Zein; (Sham Legion field commander); Col. Ahmed Osman; (Sultan Murad Division squad commander); Lt. Col. Abdul Moneim; (Northern Division commander)	Unnamed ISIL leader (POW)
Units involved
Free Syrian Army 13th Division; Sultan Murad Division; Northern Division; Mountain Hawks Brigade; Fastaqim Kama Umirt; Levant Front; Hamza Division; Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki; Sham Legion; Turkish Armed Forces Turkish Land Forces;	Military of ISIL Wilayat Halab;
Casualties and losses
Unknown	10+ killed

The Battle of al-Rai was fought in August 2016 between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the border town of al-Rai, part of the northern Aleppo Governorate on the border with Turkey, which resulted in the FSA capturing the town.

Background

On 8 April 2016, rebels from the Hawar Kilis Operations Room captured al-Rai and more than a dozen other villages, but withdrew after an ISIL counter-offensive 3 days later that recaptured almost all the villages they have lost. The rebels also briefly took over the town for a few hours in June before being driven out.^[3]

The battle

On 15 August 2016, after heavy artillery bombardment rebels began to storm the al-Rai grain silos and captured the silos along with several other positions.^[7] However, they were forced to withdraw the next morning after an ISIL counterattack from the north which recaptured all the points ISIL lost.^[8] Landmines played a role in slowing down the offensive.^[2]

On 17 August, FSA fighters launched a second assault after targeting IS positions with rocket artillery, breaking through the first lines of defense and re-entering the town.^[9] The FSA blew up 3 car bombs during the battle^[10] and fully captured al-Rai and its border crossing later that day, taking a number of surrendering ISIL militants as prisoners of war.^[5]

On the same day, the USAF operating as part of the CJTF-OIR conducted air support for the rebels during the battle by bombing several IS units near al-Rai.^[11] Fighting continued in the outskirts of the town as ISIL retained its headquarters in nearby Dudyan.^[2]

Due to the short time given to rebels to fortify the area, IS launched a rapid counter-offensive from the east on 19 August and recaptured the grain silos and nearby hilltops.^[12] However, the rebels repelled the attack on the town and claimed to have killed more than 10 IS fighters.^[6] FSA fighters also recaptured the grain silos the next day.^[4]

Aftermath

On 20 August, a large number of rebels and a military convoy containing more than 50 vehicles loaded with heavy and medium weapons from al-Rai were transferred to the Turkish border with Jarabulus, as the Turkish Armed Forces prepared for an attack on Jarabulus.^[1]

Between 27 and 28 August, the rebels claimed to had capture three villages east of al-Rai.^[13]^[14] However, it was reported that on 27 August, IS recaptured al-Rai.^[15]^[16] The next day, al-Rai was once again reported to be rebel-held.^[17] By 4 September, FSA captured all of the ISIL-controlled territory along the Turkish-Syrian border.^[18]