2024 Kobani offensive | |||||||
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Part of Operation Dawn of Freedom and Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Syrian Interim Government Turkey [1] | Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Syrian Democratic Forces | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | 23 killed [a] | ||||||
Two children |
The 2024 Kobani offensive is an ongoing military campaign conducted by the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Turkish Air Force against Syrian Democratic Forces following the successful 2024 Manbij offensive. The offensive was launched with the intent to capture the Kurdish-majority city of Kobanî and positions in Ayn al-Arab District to the east of the Euphrates. The offensive was initiated with numerous airstrikes across the Kobanî countryside and on the Tishrin Dam standing on the Euphrates between recently captured Manbij District territories and the Ayn al-Arab District.
Beginning on 9 December, pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) military forces conducted drone strikes against the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, resulting in severe damage to its electrical generation infrastructure. The attack rendered the facility partially inoperative, causing widespread power outages across numerous population centers dependent on the dam for electricity. Dam personnel became trapped within the facility due to the surrounding combat operations, prompting urgent appeals from its staff to stop all combat operations at the dam due to its importance as essential civilian infrastructure across the region. [5] On 9 December, 11 SDF fighters were also killed in a Turkish drone strike on an SDF position near Qarquzaq bridge east of Manbij. [3]
Kobani, Ayn Issa, Zormixar, Berkel Hill, Miştenûr Hill, and the Qereqozax bridge and nearby positions were bombarded with UAVs on the same day. Three members of SDF's Internal Security fighters were killed in a drone strike on the Qereqozax bridge. Two children were killed by heavy weapons in Kon Eftar village on the outskirts of Kobani. [6] [7]
The airstrikes were coupled with ground operations by Turkish-backed factions to take the dam out of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control and cross into Ayn al-Arab District, which reportedly led to the deaths of dozens of SNA troops and the destruction of several of their vehicles. [8] [9]
Also on 11 December, six fighters of the SDF's Manbij Military Council were killed in a Turkish drone strike near Qarquzaq bridge, south of Ayn al-Arab. [4] An elderly woman was killed and her grandson injured after their civilian vehicle was targeted by machine gun fire while crossing the bridge to return home to Manbij. [10]
On 12 December, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Turkish Armed Forces and the Dawn of Freedom Operations Room initiated violent attacks on the Tishrin Dam using heavy weaponry such as tanks and drones. The SOHR warned that the assaults could potentially trigger a dam failure and lead to a significant humanitarian crisis. [11]
On 14 December, diplomatic efforts mediated by the international coalition to establish a ceasefire between Turkish-backed forces and the SDF collapsed. [12] Following the breakdown of negotiations, local sources reported that Turkish and Turkish-backed forces initiated significant military mobilization around strategic locations, particularly near the Qarqozak Bridge and along Kobani's borders along the Syria–Turkey border. [13]
Iraqi and Syrian water experts confirmed the development of cracks in the Tishrin Dam's main wall following continuous military bombardments on the dam, and warned of the increasing possibility of a dam breach should military combat continue in the area. The experts predicted that a breach could produce multiple waves as high as seven meters that could travel into Iraq and destroy several river settlements in Al Anbar Governorate. [14]
The Baath Dam is a dam on the Euphrates, located 22 kilometres (14 mi) upstream from the city of Raqqa in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Construction of the dam started in 1983 and was finished in 1986. It is intended to generate hydroelectric power as well as regulate the irregular flow from the Tabqa Dam, which is located 18 kilometres (11 mi) upstream from the Baath Dam. These irregularities in the flow from the Tabqa Dam are caused by changes in the electricity demand. The Baath Dam is 14 metres (46 ft) high and the installed water turbines can generate 81 MW. The storage capacity of the Baath Dam Reservoir is 0.09 cubic kilometres (0.022 cu mi).
The Rojava–Islamist conflict, a major theater in the Syrian civil war, started after fighting erupted between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist rebel factions in the city of Ras al-Ayn. Kurdish forces launched a campaign in an attempt to take control of the Islamist-controlled areas in the governorate of al-Hasakah and some parts of Raqqa and Aleppo governorates after al-Qaeda in Syria used those areas to attack the YPG. The Kurdish groups and their allies' goal was also to capture Kurdish areas from the Arab Islamist rebels and strengthen the autonomy of the region of Rojava. The Syrian Democratic Forces would go on to take substantial territory from Islamist groups, in particular the Islamic State (IS), provoking Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.
The Rif Dimashq offensive was a Syrian government forces and allies offensive in the Rif Dimashq Governorate, that was launched in mid-September 2013, as part of the Syrian Civil War.
The 2014 Idlib offensive was a series of operations conducted by the rebels against the Syrian Government in the Idlib Governorate during the Syrian Civil War. The clashes were mostly concentrated around Khan Shaykhun and on the highway towards Maarrat al-Nu'man.
The 2014 Hama offensive, codenamed Ghazwat Badr al-Sham al-Kubra, was a military operation launched by Syrian rebels during the Syrian Civil War in the northern parts of Hama Governorate, in an attempt to reach the Hama Military Airport and the provincial capital of the province. It was also launched in an attempt to cut the supply line to Aleppo, especially after the rebels seized the village of Rahjan.
The Tishrin Dam offensive, or Southern Kobanî offensive, was a military operation in the northeastern Aleppo Governorate during the Syrian Civil War, conducted by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture the strategic Tishrin Dam and the southern countryside of the self-declared Kobanî Canton from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve supported the SDF offensive with over 26 airstrikes.
The Northern Aleppo offensive refers to a military operation launched northwest of Aleppo in early February 2016 by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies. The offensive successfully broke the three-year Siege of Nubl and Al-Zahraa, effectively cutting off the main supply route of the Syrian rebels from Turkey.
The al-Shaddadi offensive (2016), also known as Operation Wrath of Khabur, was an offensive launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during the Syrian Civil War, in February 2016. The main goal of this offensive was to capture the strategic city of Al-Shaddadi and the remainder of the southern al-Hasakah Governorate from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). During the offensive, the US-led coalition conducted more than 86 airstrikes in Al-Shaddadi and the nearby areas, in support of the SDF advances.
The Manbij offensive, code-named Operation Martyr and Commander Faysal Abu Layla, was a 2016 military offensive operation by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to capture the city of Manbij from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and eventually, the ISIL-held areas through Al-Bab to Herbel, in the area referred to as the "Manbij Pocket" in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The main goal of the offensive was to cut off ISIL's last supply routes from Turkey, and to prevent ISIL fighters from escaping across the Syria–Turkey border. For the first five days of the offensive, the US-led coalition conducted over 55 airstrikes in support of the SDF. After capturing Manbij city on 12 August, the SDF announced that the offensive would continue until the whole countryside around Manbij was captured, though the offensive effectively ended shortly after the Turkey, who regard the YPG elements in the SDF as a terrorist organisation, initiated Operation Euphrates Shield to prevent the SDF uniting the regions of Rojava.
The Northern Aleppo offensive was a series of military operations launched by Syrian opposition forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and vice versa in the northern Aleppo Governorate, near the Syria–Turkey border, the city of Azaz and the town of Mare'. The offensive is supported by airstrikes against ISIL conducted by the United States-led CJTF-OIR coalition and artillery shelling by the Turkish Armed Forces.
Faisal Abdi Bilal Saadoun, widely known as Abu Leyla or Abu Layla, was a commander in both the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). He is regarded by many as a hero of the Rojava–Islamist conflict.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has many military councils for local security and defense, each being accountable to the civil council of the area they operate in.
Adnan Abdul Aziz Ahmed, better known as Adnan Abu Amjad, was the commander of the Manbij Military Council, active within the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Syrian Civil War. Adnan led his group, the Manbij Military Council and the Northern Sun Battalion, in every battle since its formation in 2014, including the Siege of Kobanî, the Tell Abyad offensive, the Tishrin Dam offensive, the al-Hawl offensive, the al-Shaddadi offensive, the Battle of Manbij, his hometown, where he freed his parents from ISIL rule in August 2016, and the Raqqa campaign, including the Battle of Raqqa, where he was killed in action on 29 August 2017.
The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring 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.
The Second Battle of Ras al-Ayn occurred during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, as part of the Rojava conflict of the Syrian Civil War. The battle was fought between Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The battle resulted in the capture of Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê by Turkish/SNA forces on 20 October, and the incorporation of the town under the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.
The Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone, part of the Sochi Agreement, is a buffer zone in northern Syria between the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). It was set up following a memorandum of understanding in the Russian city Sochi on 22 October 2019 by the Russian and Turkish presidents during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. Most of the zone is controlled by the Syrian Army and Russian Military Police, and some by the TAF.
The Battle of Qamishli (2021) took place between security forces of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and forces loyal to the Syrian Arab Republic in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli. The clashes began on 20 April 2021, after Asayish targeted a vehicle carrying pro-Syrian government NDF militia fighters. The clashes were conducted with medium and light weapons such as AK-47s as well as RPGs.
Operation Dawn of Freedom refers to a military offensive launched by the Syrian National Army against the Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), targeting the northern Aleppo Governorate region between al-Bab and Tadef within the Operation Euphrates Shield zone.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war from November 2024. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in casualties of the Syrian civil war.
The 2024 Manbij offensive was a military campaign launched by the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Turkish Air Force against Syrian Democratic Forces positions in Manbij lasting from 6 to 11 December 2024. It was a part of Operation Dawn of Freedom, and occurred concurrently with the Deir ez-Zor offensive and the wider Syrian opposition offensives. The SDF withdrew their troops on 11 December after five days of conflict following a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.