[3] The fighting started on 5 June 2012, in Al-Haffah, when a large concentration of FSA rebels attacked and captured the town's police stations.

[8] Army troop reinforcements arrived to the area on 10 June, and the military continued to bombard the town and surrounding villages for a sixth straight day.

[10] On 12 June, the military recaptured al-Haffah[11] and the remaining 200 FSA fighters under heavy bombardment by government forces withdrew from the town.

The rebels claimed that heavy shelling of the town had caused significant damage to the area's infrastructure and shortages in water and electricity supplies.

[15] The UN observers found the Sunni Muslim town completely abandoned with burned out wrecks of cars and at least one charred body lying on a street.