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People's Protection Units
The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostly consists of ethnic Kurds, but also includes Arabs and foreign volunteers; it is closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, an Assyrian militia. The YPG was formed in 2011. It expanded rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and came to predominate over other armed Syrian Kurdish groups. A sister militia, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), fights alongside them. The YPG is active in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava), particularly in its Kurdish regions. In early 2015, the group won a major victory over the so-called Islamic State (IS) during the siege of Kobanî, where the YPG began to receive air and ground support from the United States and other Combined Joint Task Force – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurdish Supreme Committee
The Kurdish Supreme Committee ( ku, Desteya Bilind a Kurd; DBK) was a self-proclaimed governing body in Northern Syria, which was founded by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), following the signing on 12 July 2012 of a cooperation agreement between the two parties in Hewlêr, Iraqi Kurdistan under the auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani. The member board consists of an equal number of PYD and KNC members. The DBK sought to fill the power vacuum left behind by the retreating Syrian Army in mid-2012 during the Syrian Civil War. It claimed self-governance based on Kurdish ethnicity of the population. The committee's armed wing consisted of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Women's Protection Units (YPJ) and was complemented with the Asayish police force. The PYD increased its influence and control within Kurdish populated regions of Northern Syria, and increasing marginalization of the Kurdish National Counci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Al-Hasakah (June–August 2015)
The 2015 Battle of al-Hasakah started as an offensive launched in the Al-Hasakah Governorate during the Syrian Civil War, in which the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) attempted to capture the city of Al-Hasakah, which was divided into two areas held separately by the Syrian Armed Forces and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). On 17 July, YPG-led forces captured all of the roads and villages surrounding Al-Hasakah, fully besieging the ISIL militants remaining inside of the city. On 28 July, YPG forces and the Syrian Army expelled ISIL from most of Al-Hasakah, with two ISIL pockets persisting near the Al-Zuhour District and the southern entrance. On 1 August, the city was fully cleared of ISIL fighters. Background On 30 May 2015, after ISIL forces suffered a collapse in the western Al-Hasakah province, they launched an offensive on the Syrian government-held portion of Al-Hasakah city. Although the Kurdish YPG initially stayed out of the conflict, they event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2019 Turkish Offensive Into North-eastern Syria
The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and later Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Syria. On 6 October 2019, the Trump administration ordered American troops to withdraw from northeastern Syria, where the United States had been supporting its Kurdish allies. The military operation began on 9 October 2019 when the Turkish Air Force launched airstrikes on border towns. The conflict resulted in the displacement of over 300,000 people and has caused the death of more than 70 civilians in Syria and 20 civilians in Turkey. Human rights violations have also been reported. Amnesty International stated that it had gathered evidence of war crimes and other violations committed by Turkey and Turkish-backed Syrian forces who are sai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Syria Insurgency
The Eastern Syria insurgency is an armed insurgency being waged by remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and both pro and anti-Syrian government Arab nationalist insurgents, against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), its military (the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)), and their allies in the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) coalition. Background The insurgency began after a series of campaigns in 2016 and 2017 which took territory from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, led by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the CJTF-OIR. This eventually resulted in the taking of the Islamic State capital of Raqqa, and other areas in the Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor Governorates. These are Arab-majority areas, often with large Turkmen minorities, some of whom resented the Kurdish influence in the SDF. Multiple factions, made up mostly of Arabs, have formed armed groups in support of either the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Olive Branch
Operation Olive Branch ( tr, Zeytin Dalı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army (SNA) in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria, against the People's Protection Units (YPG) of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The air war and use of major artillery ended as the Arab and Turkmen militias of the SNA entered the city of Afrin on 18 March 2018, and the SDF insurgency in Northern Aleppo began. Between 395 and 510 civilians were reported killed in the operation. Other reported war crimes include the mutilation of a female corpse by SNA fighters, the killing of civilians due to indiscriminate shelling by Turkish forces, the alleged use of chemical gas by the Turkish Army, and the indiscriminate shooting of refugees fleeing from the conflict area into Turkey by the Gendarmerie General Command. In Turkey, the government issued restrictions on press coverage, with Reporters Without Borders no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raqqa Campaign (2016–2017)
The Raqqa campaign (codenamed Operation Wrath of Euphrates) was a military operation launched in November 2016 during the Rojava–Islamist conflict by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Raqqa Governorate, with the goal of isolating and eventually capturing the Islamic State's capital city, Raqqa. The SDF's subsidiary goals included capturing the Tabqa Dam, the nearby city of al-Thawrah, and the Baath Dam further downstream. The campaign ended successfully in October 2017, with the capture of Raqqa. The offensive was concurrent with the Battle of Sirte in Libya, the Battle of Mosul in Iraq, the Battle of al-Bab in the Aleppo Governorate, the Palmyra offensive, the reignition of fighting in Deir ez-Zor's siege, the Central Syria campaign, and the Mayadin offensive. Background In late October 2016, the United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter called for an offensive on Raqqa to take place concurrent wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Al-Bab Offensive (October–November 2016)
The western al-Bab offensive (October–November 2016) was a multi-sided military confrontation between the Syrian Army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) (including some allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions), other (Turkey-backed) FSA factions, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the countryside of northwestern Aleppo Governorate, south of the towns of Mare' and Tel Rifaat. Background On 18 October, the Hamza Division's Northern Thunder Brigade issued an ultimatum to the "PKK" and the Army of Revolutionaries, warning them to leave Tell Rifaat within 48 hours, after which they would attack the town. The offensive First week On 18 and 19 October, in response to Syrian National Army forces moving south following their capture of the town of Dabiq from ISIL and reaching the northern shore of the Shahba Reservoir, the Syrian Democratic Forces advanced to the southeast and captured several villages on the southern shore of the reservoir, including the dam. In respon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Euphrates Shield
Operation Euphrates Shield ( tr, Fırat Kalkanı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in the Syrian Civil War which led to the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. Operations were carried out in the region between the Euphrates river to the east and the rebel-held area around Azaz to the west. The Turkish military and Turkey-aligned Syrian rebel groups, some of which used the Free Syrian Army label, fought against the forces of the Islamic State (IS) as well as against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from 24 August 2016. On 29 March 2017, the Turkish military officially announced that Operation Euphrates Shield was "successfully completed". The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on the first day of the operation that it was aimed against both the IS and Syrian Kurdish "terror groups that threaten our country in northern Syria". The objective to capture Manbij, under the ''de facto'' control of the AANES administra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Al-Hasakah (2016)
The 2016 Battle of al-Hasakah was a battle between the paramilitary police of the Asayish and the People's Protection Units (YPG), against the pro-government National Defence Forces and the Syrian Arab Army, backed by the Syrian Arab Air Force, in the city of al-Hasakah, Syria. Background In 2014, a series of powerful offensives by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant brought much of al-Hasakah Governorate under the group's control. Control of al-Hasakah city itself was split between the Kurdish and Syrian Government forces. On 21 February 2015, the YPG launched a counter-offensive against ISIL, which was followed by a Syrian government offensive on 27 February. The dual offensives saw ISIL pushed back in Hasakah, with the YPG capturing over 100 towns, villages and hamlets and the Syrian Army capturing around 40 villages on Highway 7, which links al-Hasakah to Qamishli. In May 2015, the YPG captured a further 230 towns, villages, and farms west of al-Hasakah during the Wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manbij Offensive
{{Infobox military conflict , conflict= Manbij offensive (2016) , width = 400px , partof= the Rojava–Islamist conflict and the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War , image=Manbijof.png , image_size=350px , caption= Map showing SDF territorial gains during the offensive , date=31 May – 27 August 2016({{Age in months, weeks and days, month1=05, day1=31, year1=2016, month2=08, day2=27, year2=2016) , place= Aleppo Governorate, Syria , result= Major SDF victory *SDF captures ~105 villages and farms by 14 June *SDF captures Manbij city by 12 August{{cite web, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37063857, title=Syria rebels 'cut off IS escape route' through Manbij, publisher=BBC, date=12 August 2016, access-date=12 August 2016{{cite web, url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/sdf-captures-isiss-largest-stronghold-aleppo/, title=SDF captures ISIS's largest stronghold in Aleppo, first=Izat, last=Charkatli, date=12 August 2016 *SDF secures defensive line in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Raqqa Offensive (May 2016)
The Northern Raqqa offensive was a 2016 military offensive launched by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Raqqa Governorate, in order to prepare for a future attack on the city of Raqqa. The offensive was launched in coordination with airstrikes by the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. After 30 May, the offensive stalled, as the SDF shifted its focus and resources to another operation in the northern Aleppo Province. Background On 1 April 2016, Democratic Union Party (PYD) leader Salih Muslim stated that Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces were preparing with the US-led coalition to launch an offensive on Raqqa. U.S. Central Command Commander General Joseph L. Votel, the highest-ranking U.S. military official to visit Syria since the war erupted in 2011, came to Northern Syria in May 2016. Kurdish forces established a stronghold about 37 kilometers (23 miles) north of R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Tell Abyad (2016)
The Battle of Tel Abyad was a raid by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the YPG-held town of Tell Abyad at the end of February 2016, during the Syrian Civil War. Background In July 2015, Tel Abyad, previously held by IS, was captured by YPG militias linking together the Kurdish Kobanî and Jazira Canton. Since then the majority-Arab town has been absorbed into the Kobane Canton. Battle According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a month before the battle's beginning a large number of ISIL sleeper agents disguised as civilians and SDF or YPG fighters entered Tell Abyad. Most of them were so-called " Caliphate Cubs" or ISIL units of child soldiers. On 27 February 2016, at around 23:00 local time (9 pm GMT), over a hundred Islamic State militants attacked the YPG controlled town of Tell Abyad (Gire Spi in Kurdish), a key crossing along the Syrian-Turkish border, just hours after a general ceasefire in Syria took effect. According to YPG military spok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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