The Battle of Qnat
February 1980: The Battle of Qnat between the Lebanese Resistance and the Syrian Army, North Lebanon
A small village in the North of Lebanon called Qnat witnessed a battle that wasn’t like any other. This battle was a “David & Goliath” scenario and one of the most honorable battles fought by the Lebanese Resistance throughout the war. This article will shed the light on the heroism and courage of the 44 fighters from the Lebanese Front during 6 days of resistance facing a horde of a 3000-strong brigade from the Syrian special units.
Qnat was a village in the North inhabited mainly by Maronite Christians, it was a mountainous area open to everyone and there was no presence of the Syrian forces there, even after the Syrian army entered Lebanon in 1976. The majority of the town’s residents after 1978 entered and exited the town from the areas of Bani Saab farm and Beit Kassab to avoid passing through the Syrian checkpoints but the Syrians were constantly harassing the people of the area.
On Tuesday, February 12 1980, the villagers of Qnat had at best 40 fighters, heavily outnumbered the central command was called to help protect the town, skirmishes began between the Syrians and the 40 combatants on Tuesday as a result of the entry of a Syrian patrol unit. Reinforcements arrived from Qattara barracks on Tuesday night under the leadership of Asaad Arida and Hani Rahma. Then on the morning of Wednesday February 13, 11 members of the “Adonis defense units” led by Hanna Atik with 7 members of the “commandos” led by Suleiman Hoayek arrived.
On Thursday February 14, the sites were reinforced by nine soldiers of the “Adonis defense units”, and in the morning of the 15th, around 5:00 AM, the Syrian special forces bombed the school directly in an infiltration operation, until they reached a distance of 50 meters from the school.
After two and a half hours of heavy fighting, the Syrians retreated, leaving behind dozens of their dead and military equipment. Then, at 3:30 in the afternoon, they tried to infiltrate again, but the Lebanese resistance mainly the “commandos” fighters spotted them and forced them out of Qnat and back to their initial positions. There were two wounded in the Lebanese resistance, but it didn’t discourage them, their morale was high and they were ready to fight back. During the night of February 15, reinforcements began to reach the Syrians, and 6 troop carrier trucks full of soldiers were spotted in the mist.
Friday February 15 near midnight, reinforcements of the Lebanese Forces led by Bob Haddad arrived from a hidden path into the mountains and the group took over the two centers of the town: the main square & the monastery of St. Michael in the center of the town.
Reinforcements also arrived from Keserwan, led by Razzouk Shalita.
Saturday February 16, 1980, the Lebanese resistance launched two surprised attacks; one from inside to the outside of the Bani Saab farm led by Fouad Abou Nader and another from outside to inside the town led by Samir Geagea from where the town was cleared of the remnants of the Syrian special units, and after the dust settled in the battle, the biggest surprise was how miraculously hundreds of Syrian special units were found dead, this counter attack has significantly succeeded.
February 17, 1980, The fighters withdrew from Qnat on Sunday noon towards the farms of Bani Saab and Bani Assaf after the cease fire of Sunday morning.
On Sunday evening, the Lebanese Forces was trying to withdraw to the line Niha — Beit Kassab — Hardin, and during the withdrawal, comrade Michel Haddad was martyred. Soon after the Syrians had lost hope in taking the town with infantry units so they threatened to invade the area through aerial force and brought in attack helicopters and put them on standby at Hamat airport. The decision of the Lebanese Front was to withdraw from Qnat and the farms after toppling a 3000-strong battalion of the Syrian special units inflicting them heavy casualties.
In the battle of Qnat, 15 people were martyred; 7 Lebanese Resistance combatants, 8 villagers of Qnat and a large number of wounded:
- Richard Najarian was killed in the school.
- Daniel Abbout was killed in the opposite attack on Bani Saab farm.
- Michel Haddad was killed in Qnat Square.
- Fouad Doumit was killed in Hardin Palace.
- Elias Dagher, Tony Jarmoush and Tony Elia were killed on the road to Niha — Bani Saab farm.
- Faris Tahan was killed in his house.
- Dib Wehbe, Hanna Badawi, Shina Nohra, Shalita Hanna, Khawla Hanna, Nicolas and Lina Badawi were martyred inside Qnat.
“The Battle of Qnat paralleled the Hundred Days’ War in Achrafieh” Sheikh Bachir Gemayel said while describing the battle. There, the plans of the Syrian special units fell apart and their regional and international projects that were being prepared for the region were toppled. All goes to the Lebanese resistance, with a handful of its brave youth and leaders who believed in the truth and their belonging to the land.
Qnat defeated an enemy prepared to fight nations, instead it fell in the alleys of a small town and its fall was frightful.
Bibliography:
Clovis Choueifaty, This is how the Free Resistance faced the Assad army in Lebanon (Beirut, 2017)
By frontlebanon
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