Salih Muslim Muhammad(PYD leader) Sipan Hemo(YPG general commander) Cemşîd Osman(YPG commander of Ras al-Ayn) Nujin Derik(YPG commander of Aleppo) Roshna Akeed(YPG Ras al-Ayn commander) Alaa Ajabu † (Jabhat al-Akrad general commander) Abu Layla (DOW)(Jabhat al-Akrad and Northern Sun Battalion commander)
By YPG/SDF: 25,336 killed, 2,127 captured(YPG claim; 2013–2017 total)[63][64][65][66][67] By US-led airstrikes: 9,145+ killed(SOHR claim, minimum, as of March 2019)[68]
Unknown
Dozens of Syrian and 4 Turkish[69][70] civilians killed and 100,000[71] Syrian Kurds fleeing to Turkey
Since the end of theBattle of Ras al-Ayn, the city was divided between anArab-controlled western part and aKurdish-controlled eastern part.[73] On 16 July, members of theal-Nusra Front attacked aWomen's Protection Units (YPJ) patrol. They detained the driver; two female fighters managed to escape. In response to this attack, thePeople's Protection Units (YPG) brought reinforcements fromal-Derbasiya while al-Nusra had sent 200 fighters as reinforcements a few days before.[74]
On 28 January, Arab tribesmen attacked the homes of ChristianArmenians andAssyrians in the village of ad-Dalawiyah (25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Qamishli) and attempted to steal their harvest. TheAssyrian Democratic Organization condemned the attacks, characterising them as "foreign deeds".Islamist rebels repeatedly called for Christians in the province to leave.[75]
Kurdish capture of Ras al-Ayn and spread of fighting
On 16 July, the Kana'is street (where the YPG was positioned) and the al-Mahatta neighborhood (where al-Nusra was positioned) witnessed clashes.[74] A few hours later, the YPG took control of the headquarters of al-Nusra and released the fighter al-Nusra had kidnapped.[76]
On 17 July, Kurdish fighters expelled thejihadists from the town of Ras al-Ayn after a night of fighting[77] and soon after took control of the border crossing with Turkey.[78]Islamist forces retreated from Ras al-Ayn to Tal Half, Asfar and Najar which were under rebel control.[79] Eleven people were killed during the fighting, including nine jihadist and two Kurdish fighters.[80]
On 19 July, the YPG captured the village of Tal A'lo.[81] Fighting was still continuing in Karhouk and A'li Agha.[82] The next day, Kurdish fighters captured an al-Nusra checkpoint near the contested villages. By this point, 35 jihadist and 19 YPG fighters had been killed in the fighting.[83]
On 1 August,IS declared the start of the siege ofKobanî, or Ayn al-Arab where the headquarters of the YPG is located. The area surrounding Kobani was then blocked on all sides by IS and the Turks.[85]
By August 28, Islamist and Kurdish forces were battling for control of the town of Yarubiya on theIraq–Syria border. Islamists had captured further territory from the Kurds in Aleppo and Raqqa provinces; while in Aleppo, Islamists alongside rebel forces were ethnically cleansing Kurds from towns in the countryside and massacring them, leading to a mass migration of civilians to the town of Afrin.[86]
On 17 September, in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, Fighting broke out between Kurdish fighters and Islamist fighters in A'louk village that lies east of Ras al-A'in while fighting still took place near the town of al-Ya'rubiya. On 18 September, YPG took control of A'louk after four days of fighting that killed 20 people.[87]
On 26 September, rebels from theFree Syrian Army andTrotskyists of theLeon Sedov Brigade[88] joined IS in clashes with YPG forces around the town ofAtma, on the Turkish border. FSA units were said to have brought heavy artillery to the battle to push back Kurdish snipers while Kurdish tanks were firing at Atma. Arab rebel artillery was launched at the town ofJindires.[89]
On 29 September, multiple bombers attackedErbil, the capital ofIraqi Kurdistan. Six people were killed and more than 40 were injured. The IS later claimed responsibility and stated the attacks were retaliation for Masoud Barzani's stated intention of intervening in Syria on behalf of the Syrian Kurds.[90]
On 28 October, IS front in the oil-rich Çil Axa region completely collapsed. The YPG captured the villages of Girhok, Yusufiyê, Sefa, Cinêdiyê, Girê Fatê, Ebû Hecer and Mezraa Kelem while remnants of IS forces fled toTal Hamis and Tal Brak.[93]
On 2 November, Kurdish forces launched an offensive called the "Serekeniye Martyrs' Offensive", with the aim of consolidating their control of Hasaka province by pushing jihadist forces out of the area surrounding Ras al-Ayn.[94]
On 6 November, in Hasakah province, the YPG took over two villages west of Tall Tamer, on the highway to Aleppo, after clashes with IS, Jabhat Al-Nusra and allied rebel groups. The towns the YPG had taken over were Ghebesh and Tal Shemarin, which are inhabited byAssyrians.[95] By this point, YPG forces had captured a total of 40 towns and villages in the offensive.[96]
On 13 November, following major gains by the YPG, the PYD announced plans to create an autonomous transitional government to run the Kurdish-majority northeast of Syria. The plans were announced after a meeting in Qamishli that also involved Christian and Arab groups. The plan called for the creation of a parliament of 82 members elected from three cantons across the region. Kurdish officials also stated that the region would continue to be managed autonomously regardless of events elsewhere. In Raqqa province, rebel fighters launched domestically manufactured rockets on the villages of Kandar and Abdi Kawi which were under the control of the YPG.[97]
On 28 November, in Al-Hasakah province, YPG fighters took of three villages (Rokoba, A'wja, and Tal Maghas) which lie on the Tal Tamer-Hasaka road after violent clashes with IS, al-Nusra and several rebel battalions.[98]
During the night of 26/27 December, the YPG launched anoffensive on jihadist-controlled areas between Hasakah and Qamishli, during which they tookTell Brak District.
On 1 January 2014, the YPG battled the Islamists in Tell Brak, but were not able to capture the town. The battle caused 39 YPG and 21 Islamist fatalities.[99]
On 24 January, jihadist forces attacked the YPG-held town of Manajeer in theAl-Hasakah Governorate. However, after four days of fighting, their attack was repelled. Twenty-three Islamist and three Kurdish fighters were killed. During the fighting, the YPG also captured at least one tank from the jihadists.[100]
On 1 February, it was reported that the YPG launched an offensive against IS bases inTell Abyad.[101]
On 3 February, the YPG claimed to have killed 8 IS fighters, including a commander, during clashes inGirê Spî.[102]
On 15 February, the YPG (supported by the Shammar tribe) launched an offensive against IS in theTell Hamis area. Two days later, the YPG claimed to have killed "many" IS fighters and captured 30 of them, in addition to capturing five military vehicles and a large amount of weaponry during the operation.[103]
On 23 February, a predawn raid by the YPG capturedTell Brak, which lies in a strategic position betweenAl-Hasakah and Qamishli.[99]
On 26 February, the YPG announced it had halted all its military operations in the Kurdish-controlled regions but warned its enemies that it would respond to every hostile action on Kurdish soil.[104] The next day, IS launched an attack on Til Merûf which was eventually repelled by the YPG. According to the YPG, 16 IS fighters were killed in the clashes.[105]
On 1 March, IS attacked villages around Tell Abyad but the attack was repelled and left one IS fighter killed, according to the YPG.[106] On 6 March, the YPG claimed to have killed 16 IS fighters and destroyed a "military vehicle" in Tell Abyad.[107]
On 11 March, IS captured the town of Sîrîn[108] and attacked the Al-Hadaya Hotel in the city ofQamishli with suicide bombs, killing nine Kurdish civilians.[109] SOHR also reported that IS executed 25 Kurds (including 14 fighters) in the Al-Sheyokh area, near Jarabulus.[110] On 13 March, IS (according to local sources) captured the Qereqozak Bridge and some strategic areas near theTomb of Suleyman Shah in Kobanê after clashes with Kurdish fighters.[111] On 14 March, Kurdish sources claimed that the YPG and allied forces killed 35 IS fighters in clashes in the countryside of southernKobanî Canton, which erupted after IS launched an unsuccessful attack towards the Serriin silos.[112]
On 17 March, heavy clashes erupted between the YPG and IS near the Qereqozak Bridge in Kobanê. The YPG claimed to have killed 40 IS fighters.[113] On 19 March, the YPG captured Tell Henzir village.[114] The next day, the YPG also took control of Tell Henzir, Tell Xezal Miço, Ferisa Şerabiyan, Ferisa Sofiyan, Ferisa Dişo, Tell Boğan and Tell Meha. It was also stated that 32 IS fighters were killed in the clashes.[115]
On 22 March, SOHR reported heavy clashes between IS and the YPG around many villages in the western countryside of Tell Abyad, which resulted in the fleeing of mainly Kurdish refugees from the western countryside of Tell Abyad and surrounding areas to Turkey.[110]
On 1 April, IS laid siege to Kobanê from three flanks, and launched an artillery attack from Zor Mughar. The YPG ambushed IS forces at Kendal, east of Kobanê, killing 12Azeri IS fighters and their Kurdish commander.[116] Fighting raged in Zor Mughar and Kharab Atto while YPG fighters cut off all the roads leading to Kobanê from the western side, starting from the villages of Ta'lk, Derbazin and al-Qanaya, to prevent potential attacks by IS fighters against the city.[117] Despite YPG control of the hills around Sirrin, IS forces, backed up by tanks, captured two grain silos and seized the village of Tal al-Bawgha.[116]
On 29 May, it was reported that IS killed dozens of civilians in raids on several villages in the Ras al-Ayn region of Al-Hasakah province, with the retrieval of at least 15 bodies, including seven children.[119]
On 30 May, IS kidnapped 193 Kurdish civilians between the ages of 17 and 70 from the village ofQabasin nearal-Bab. On the same day, they seized up to 186 Kurdish students who had been traveling from the Kobani region to Aleppo to complete exams.[120] The teenagers were reportedly sent to religious schools inMinjeb where they were subjected toSalafist indoctrination.[121]
On 4 July, using weapons captured in Iraq, IS seized the villages of Zor Maghar, Al-Zyara, and Bayadiyah, near the city of Kobanî, after three days of fighting with YPG forces.[122]
On 9 July, IS advanced towards Kobanî from the east, forcing the YPG to withdraw from the villages of Abdi, Kwi, Kendal, Kri and Sor.[123] The clashes led to the deaths of 18 Kurdish fighters.[124]
On 14 July, the PYD issued a regional call to arms for all Kurds to assist in defending Kobanî. Kurdish militants from the PKK crossed from Turkey to reinforce YPG defensive positions. By this time, at least 10 villages had fallen to IS, who had begun to lobmortars at Kobanî. At least two PKK fighters were killed while defending the canton.[125]
By the end of July, according to the PYD, IS offensive against Kobanî had been repelled, with 685 IS fighters being killed.[126]
Frontline situation near Kobanî from March–September 2014Kurdish demonstration against IS inVienna, Austria, 10 October 2014
On 17 September, following the capture of a strategic bridge over the Euphrates,[127] IS launched a large offensive using tanks, rockets and artillery in the direction of Kobanî, and within 24 hours captured 21 Kurdish villages. The advance left Kobanî encircled by IS forces.[128]
On 19 September, IS captured 39 more villages,[129] bringing their forces within 20 kilometers of Kobanî.[130] Forty-five thousand refugees crossed into Turkey, fearing the region would become part of IS,[131] while a number of refugees were stopped at the border and ordered to return to Kobanî by Turkish authorities.[132]
By 21 September, IS captured 64 villages[133] as their forces came within 10 kilometers of the city, and continued to advance[134] with fighting concentrated on the southern and eastern suburbs of Kobanî, 13 kilometers from the town.[135]
On 28 September, after violent clashes with the Kurdish forces of the YPG, IS militants captured the villages of Kenana, Qadaa, and Hamadaneh in the Tel Kocher (Yarubiyah) countryside.[136]
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, with the aid of troops from the Syria-based Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), took control of the Rabia border crossing between the two countries,[137] marking the first major battle to straddle both. On 31 October, Iraq-based Peshmerga troops crossed into Syria via Turkey to aid in the defense of the border city of Kobane.[138]
The war dragged on, as both IS and the YPG gained and lost territory to each other, other rebel groups and loyalists. YPG successes alarmed the Turks, who threatened invasion.[139] In June, militantsattacked Kobanî, killing over 200 people in gun battles.
On 31 July 2015, clashes erupted between YPG and al-Nusra forces in the south of the Efrin Canton, targeting the town ofCindires.[140]
On 26 September 2015, clashes erupted between YPG and al-Nusra forces in the YPG-held district ofSheikh Maqsood. The clashes resulted in YPG forces advancing and capturing Castello Road, a key rebel supply line in the rebel-held Eastern Areas of Aleppo city. Tensions continued after the YPG allegedly violated clauses of a truce with the rebels concerning Castello Road. On 1 October Nusra forces again attacked YPG positions in Sheikh Maqsood; however this was repelled, with the YPG remaining in control of the key rebel supply route.[141][142][143]
Clashes between YPG-Al Nusra were renewed in the vicinity of Sheikh Maqsood on 3 October, with Al Nusra suffering 15 casualties.[144]
Map of the territory changes during the YPG-led Northern Syria offensive (2015)
During November 2015, the YPG and its allies in theSyrian Democratic Forces captured the town ofal-Hawl, along with more than 200 villages and towns from IS in the surrounding areas inAl-Hasakah Governorate near the border with Iraq in the month-long offensive.
During February 2016, Syrian government forces and allied militias, backed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes, launched an offensive to capture areas in Northern Aleppo. The YPG-led SDF followed their advances and captured the city ofTell Rifaat and theMenagh Military Airbase.
On 16 February 2016, the SDF, supported by airstrikes from the US-led coalition, launched an offensive to capture the strategic city ofal-Shaddadi from IS.
On 11 September 2016Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the renamed al-Nusra Front, fired over 20 mortar shells at the town ofJindires in the southwesternAfrin Canton, destroying several residential buildings and causing a number of casualties, mostly women and children.[145]
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On 20 January 2018,Turkey launchedOperation Olive Branch alleging that the Government ruling in Afrin were terrorists. The operation was to be spearheaded by theTurkish Armed Forces and their allies in theTurkish-backed Free Syrian Army.[152] On the same day, theTurkish Air Force bombed more than 100 targets in Afrin.[153] On 28 January 2018,Syria's antiquities department and the British-basedSyrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Turkish shelling had seriously damaged theancient temple of Ain Dara at Afrin. Syria called for international pressure on Turkey "to prevent the targeting of archaeological and cultural sites".[154][155][156] On 20 February 2018, a Syrian army convoy consisting of 50 vehicles had arrived in Afrin through the Ziyarat border crossing and were deployed to different areas. Five vehicles reached the center of the city of Afrin.[157]
On 14 March 2018, Redur Xelil, the senior official of theSyrian Democratic Forces accused Turkey of settling Arab and Turkmen families in the villages captured by Turkish army. A senior Turkish official denied the accusations.[158]
On 18 March 2018, on the 58th day ofOperation Olive Branch, theSyrian National Army and theTurkish Armed Forces captured Afrin from the YPG and theYPJ.[159] Shortly after its capture, SNA fighterslooted parts of the city and destroyed numerous Kurdish symbols, including a statue ofKāve, as Turkish Army troops solidified control by raisingTurkish flags and banners over the city.[160][161] In areas which were captured by the Olive Branch forces, theTurkish Red Crescent (TRC) has provided population with help which covered the basic needs between 15 February and 15 March 2018.[162]
After the capture of Afrin by the Turkish led forces, the city came under the control of theGovernment of Turkey, which provides the administration.[163]
On 12 April 2018, a Turkish-backed interim council was elected in Afrin, consisting of 20 "elders from the city" – 11 Kurds, eight Arabs, and one Turkmen, Turkish state media reported.[164] The council is headed by a Kurd named Zuhair Haider who, in an interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency, expressed his gratitude to Turkey and vowed to "serve" the local citizens.[165]
In June 2018, theUnited Nations published a report stating that the security situation under Turkish-backed rebel control remains volatile. TheOHCHR had received reports of lawlessness and rampant criminality, such as theft, harassment, cruel treatment and other abuse, and murders committed by several Turkish-backed armed groups, especially by theSultan Murad andHamza Divisions. The OCHR stated that civilians, particularly ethnic Kurds from Afrin, are being targeted for discrimination by the same Turkish-backed fighters.[166]
On 2 August 2018,Amnesty International reported that the Turkish forces were giving Syrian armed groups free rein to commit serious human rights abuses against civilians in the northern city of Afrin.[167] The research had found the Turkish-backed fighters have involved in arbitrary detentions, torture, forced displacement, enforced disappearances, confiscation of property, and looting.[167]
^"The UAE has it in for the Muslim Brotherhood".Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. 22 February 2017.Along with their American counterparts, Emirati special forces are said to be training elements of the opposition. They constitute a kind of Arab guarantee among the Syrian Democratic Forces – an umbrella group dominated by the Kurds of the PYD, on whom the US are relying to fight IS on the ground.
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Russia (until 2024)[9][10][11]
Ba'athist Syria (until 2024)[12][13][14]
Salih Muslim Muhammad(PYD leader)
Sipan Hemo(YPG general commander)
Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi (leader of IS)
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