The Syrian Desert campaign was a large-scale military operation of the Syrian Army that initially started along the highway from Damascus to the border with Iraq against rebel forces during the Syrian civil war. Its first intended goal was to capture both the highway and the al-Tanf border crossing, thus securing the Damascus countryside from a potential rebel attack. Later, multiple other fronts were opened as part of the operation throughout the desert, as well as operation "Grand Dawn" against ISIL with the aim of reopening the Damascus-Palmyra highway and preparing for an offensive towards Deir ez-Zor.

The Syrian Free Army (SFA), also known as the New Syrian Army (NSA), or Revolutionary Commando Army, is a Syrian opposition faction which controls territory near Syria's border with Iraq and Jordan. It has been trained by United States Army and hosted at al-Tanf.