 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2024) |
| Shahba Canton Kantona Şehba مقاطعة الشهباء | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One of the two cantons of theAfrin Region | |||||||||
| 2016–2024 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
 The Shahba Canton was located in a strip north of Aleppo between the Turkish-backed Syrian Interim Government and Ba'athist Syria. | |||||||||
| Capital |
| ||||||||
| Government | |||||||||
| Co-president of the Council of Shahba | |||||||||
• 2016–2024 | Ismail Musa[2] | ||||||||
| Historical era | Syrian Civil War | ||||||||
• Established | 2016 | ||||||||
• Council of Shahba created | March 22, 2016 (2016-03-22) | ||||||||
• Captured duringOperation Dawn of Freedom | December 1, 2024 (2024-12-01) | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 2024 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |   Turkish occupation of northern Syria | ||||||||
| The Shahba Canton was part of theAfrin region, alongside theAfrin Canton. After Turkey and its allies occupied Afrin, the SDF controlled only the Shahba Canton.[3] | |||||||||
TheShahba Canton[4][5][6] (Kurdish:Kantona Şehba,Arabic:مقاطعة الشهباء,Classical Syriac:ܦܠܩܐ ܕܫܗܒܐ,romanized: Pelqo d'Shahba) was a political unit of theAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria, in theAleppo Governorate.[7] The canton was established to administer the areas captured by theSyrian Democratic Forces from theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant west of theEuphrates, as part of theAfrin Region.[3][2][8][9]
The Shahba autonomous region was founded during the first and second conferences of the Shahba region in Afrin on 28 January 2016 and 2–4 February 2016. The conferences set up the Shahba Regional Assembly with its own council and senate and ade facto autonomous administration, created on 22 March 2016.[2][10][11] During the2024 Syrian opposition offensives, the remaining SDF-controlled area around Tell Rifaat was also taken by the Turkish-backedSyrian National Army.
Shahba is a nickname for the city ofAleppo.[12] TheShahba Canton originally denoted the parts of northernAleppo Governorate ofSyria that are under the administrative control of theAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria as part of theAfrin Region. Accordingly, the canton initially includedManbij,[3] but by 2019, Shahba Canton had been restructured and only included the area around Tel Rifaat andMenagh.[13]
The population of Shahba Canton mainly consists ofArabSyrians, with an additional considerableSyrian Turkmen andKurdish population; among the latter are many people displaced by the Syrian civil war.[14][15][16]Fabrice Balanche claims that toponymy and maps published by the French colonial authorities indicate that a significant percentage of inhabitants of Shahba who are officially classified asArabs have Kurdish origins.[14] From early 2018, thousands of Kurds fled from Afrin and resettled in Shahba Canton.[13]
As of March 2016,Society for Threatened Peoples estimated that there were 450 inhabited villages in the Shahba plain to the north and the east of Aleppo around Azaz, Al-Bab, Manbij and As-Safira, claiming 217 of these settlements to be Kurdish.[17] However, in Fabrice Balanche's article from the same year, it was claimed that the Kurdish population in the Afrin canton at the time (which included the "nearly 100 percent Kurdish" western Afrin district) was going to be diluted to 30 percent with the possible incorporation of the Shahba plain.[14] Likewise,Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies disagreed with the estimates of the Society for Threatened Peoples, claiming that it inflated the local number of Kurds.[18] The ethnic makeup of the area was also affected by the Syrian civil war; for instance, in several cases Arab families in the Shahba plain fled the advance of the YPG/YPJ, whereas Kurds fled from Turkish and allied forces.[15]
Tell Rifaat is the largest town in the canton. According to the 2004 Syrian census, Tell Rifaat had 20,514 inhabitants.[19] Following the TurkishOperation Olive Branch, many Kurds, Arabs, andYazidis fled to the Shahba Canton, forming five refugee camps near Tell Rifaat.[15][16] In 2020, theRojava Information Center claimed that Tell Rifaat housed 200,000internally displaced persons; a local in Shahba Canton estimated in late 2021 that the number was closer to 100,000.[16]
In the second half of 2012, most of the region was captured from the Syrian government by opposition groups, including thePeople's Protection Units (YPG) and its ally theKurdish Front.[20] In January 2014 theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who had been infiltrating the region over the course of the previous year,[21] launched a massive assault, and eventually captured almost the entire region, includingManbij,Jarabulus andAl-Bab, up toDabiq.
On the western side, some territory in theAzaz district stayed under the control of non-ISIL forces, villages and towns occasionally contested and changing hands betweenAfrin District based YPG and allies (all since October 2015 under the umbrella of theSyrian Democratic Forces, SDF) and diverse rebel militias, until finally aFebruary 2016 offensive by SDF forces, inter alia capturingTel Rifaat andMenagh Airbase, created today's borderline between them.[22][23]
To the east, near the city of Manbij, in December 2015 theSyrian Democratic Forces (SDF)launched an offensive from the east across theEuphrates river and captured the strategicTishrin Dam and surrounding villages, forming a small salient on the western bank of the river. In the following months an offensive to capture Manbij city from ISIS was planned, but was delayed because of opposition and demands from the Turkish government.[24] In May 2016 the SDF launched anoffensive towards Manbij city along 3 axes: from the north and south along the banks of the Euphrates river, and on the southern outskirts of Manbij city aiming to block the Raqqa-Manbij road.[25] From 30 May to 12 June 2016, the Manbij offensive resulted in the capture of more than 100 villages from ISIL.[26] On 14 August 2016, after securingManbij, the SDF established theAl-Bab Military Council with the goal of securing the city ofal-Bab and its surrounding countryside.[27] On 19 August 2016, the SDF componentManbij Military Council announced that it took over the security of Manbij city center and surrounding villages.[28][29]
From late August 2016,Turkey assembled some Syrian rebel groups who with Turkish military support captured a strip of territory along the Turkish border from ISIL including the town of Jarabulus. This included some combat withJarabulus Military Council SDF forces, which eventually settled for an armistice line along theSajur River. To the south, SDF forces started offensives against ISIL west of Al-Babin September 2016 and againin October 2016, capturing several villages in the process.
On 13 April 2017, negotiations between Turkey-backed rebel groups and the SDF reportedly restarted under the mediation of the United States. The parties discussed control over the villages and towns ofTell Rifaat,Menagh,Maryamin,Sheikh Issa,Maraanaz,Herbel,Deir Jamal, and several other villages situated in the western part of the Shahba Canton. The US-supportedal-Mu'tasim Brigade reportedly represented the Turkey-backed rebel factions in the negotiations.[30][31]
AfterOperation Olive Branch in early 2018 resulted in theoccupation of nearby Afrin by the Turkish-ledSyrian National Army, thousands of Kurds, Arabs, and Yazidis fled to Tel Rifaat and resettled in Shahba Canton.[13][15][16] Since then, Shahba Canton remained under control of the SDF, mostly Kurdish-majority YPG/YPJ units. Though Turkey repeatedly threatened to occupy the area as well, Shahba Canton was maintained through protection by the Russian military andSyrian Army.[15][16] Turkey has claimed thatanti-Turkish guerrillas are operating from Tell Rifaat. Over time, the SDF reduced its public presence in Shahba Canton. In 2019, SDF commanderMazloum Abdi claimed that the SDF was no longer present in the area, although locals argued that Tell Rifaat's SDF garrison was simply operating under the Syrian flag and dressed in Syrian Army uniforms. Tensions remained between the Syrian government and local authorities, however, with the4th Division reportedly blockading Tell Rifaat.[16]
During the2024 Syrian opposition offensives, the remaining SDF-controlled area around Tell Rifaat was also taken by the Turkish-backedSyrian National Army.[32]
Since its foundation the Shahba Canton has a Shahba Regional Assembly with its own council and senate.[35][11]
Shahba Regional Assembly has a direct representative inside theDemocratic Syria Assembly (MSD) and Cîhan Xedro is also formally elected to represent the Al-Shahba Canton inside the MSD.[9]
Shahba Canton is governed following theConstitution of Rojava.It is noted for its explicit affirmation of minority rights, gender equality and a form of direct democracy known asdemocratic confederalism.[36][37][38][39]
Article 8 of the 2014 of the NES constitution stipulates that"all Cantons in the Autonomous Regions are founded upon the principle of local self-government. They may freely elect their representatives and representative bodies, and may pursue their rights insofar as it does not contravene the articles of the Charter."[40]
The governing party of Shahba Canton is theSyrian National Democratic Alliance (Arabic:التحالف الوطني الديمقراطي السوري, TWDS).It is a left-wing multi-ethnic political party established in 2014 in northern Syria.[41]
On 12 March 2017, the Legislative Assembly of Manbij approved the elected co-presidents who then took office. During the meeting the departments of the committee members, co-presidents and committees were determined after speeches and evaluations. 13 committees where determined.[42] The 13 new committees include 71 Arabs, 43 Kurds, 10 Turkmen, 8Circassians, and anArmenian and aChechen.[43]
On 2 April 2017, the Shahba Council held a meeting with residents of Nayrabiyah village of theAl-Bab Subdistrict & announced the creation of the Nayrabiyah Council.[44]
The prime ministers were elected[35] and the remaining Executive Council appointed as follows:
| Name | Party | Office | Elected | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ismail Musa[45] | TWDS | Acting Prime Minister | 2016 | ||
| Ayman al-Hafez | TWDS | Acting Deputy Prime Minister | 2016 | ||
| Mohammed Ahmed Khaddro[45] | TWDS | Acting Deputy Prime Minister | 2016 | ||
| ? | Minister of Foreign Affairs | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Internal Affairs | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Finance | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Education | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Health | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Martyrs’ Families | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Youth and Sport | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Religious Affairs and Reconciliation | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Women and Family Affairs | 2016 | |||
| ? | Minister of Information and Communication | 2016 | |||
Security in the Shahba Canton is primarily handled by the localAsayish police force. There have been reported to be many locals who have joined the police forces, the female component of which has drawn particular attention in international media.[46][47]
On 22 February 2017, the Asayish handed over the security responsibility ofManbij to an internal security force formed in the city.[48]
To the east, in Manbij, public schooling has regained secular normalcy after the ISIL episode.[49][50]
36°31′41″N37°57′14″E / 36.5280°N 37.9540°E /36.5280; 37.9540
