Rif Dimashq clashes (November 2011–March 2012)

The Rif Dimashq clashes were a series of unrests and armed clashes in and around Damascus, the capital of Syria, from November 2011 until a stalemate in March 2012. The violence was part of the wider early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war. Large pro-government and anti-government protests took place in the suburbs and center of Damascus, with the situation escalating when members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) started attacking military targets in November.

It is claimed that in January 2012, parts of rural Damascus and the Damascus suburbs started to fall under opposition control. On 27 January 2012, the Syrian Army launched a military operation which retook the Damascus suburbs and the town of Zabadani with the offensive ending on 11 February. However, fighting still continued, when on 15 February FSA fighters were seen on the streets of a district in the Damascus centre, trying to recruit opposition protesters and mingling with them. A few anti-government protests were still ongoing after the army offensive.

On 12 March 2012, major clashes were reported in central Damascus between the FSA and the Syrian Army for the first time. By April 2012 a fragile cease-fire was brokered by the UN peace envoy Kofi Annan. However, following the cease fire collapse, by July 2012, rebels erupted again into most Damascus suburbs and rural areas around the city, launching the Battle of Damascus, also known as Operation Damascus Volcano.