Abu Ali al-Anbari (Deputy, Syria) Adam al-Chechani†[16] (Top ISIL commander in Al-Hasakah Province) Abu Abeer al-Iraqi†[16] (Deputy Emir of Al-Shaddadi) Abu Aicha al-Jazrawi†[16] (Head of Sharia Court in Al-Shaddadi) Rima al-Jarish†[16] (Propaganda Chief in northeastern Syria)
On 31 October 2015, the SDF launched an offensive to capture the town of al-Hawl and the surrounding countryside from ISIL. On 13 November, the SDF captured al-Hawl and the al-Hawl Refugee Camp, along with the areas to the east and south of the town, and on 16 November, the SDF captured a pocket of ISIL territory to the northwest of al-Hawl. On 22 November, the SDF captured the town of Kama'il, the Regiment 121 base, and the surrounding area. By 30 November, the SDF had captured the South Hasakah Dam and the village of Qana, coming within 25 kilometres (15.53mi) of Al-Shaddadi from both the north and northeast. During the al-Hawl offensive, the SDF captured 1,400 square kilometers (870 square miles) of land,[35] including more than 240 towns and villages.[36] By 23 December, the SDF had captured the town of Al-Arishah. On the same day, the SDF repelled a pro-Assad militia attack on their positions in the town.[37]
The offensive
On 16 February 2016, the SDF launched an offensive to capture the strategic city of al-Shaddadi and the surrounding countryside,[31] with a force of about 6,000 fighters.[18] SDF forces attacked mainly from two axes, from the Abdul al-Aziz Mountains and from the al-Hawl area, advancing towards Shaddadi from the northwest and the northeast.[38] On 18 February, the SDF captured at least eight villages and two other areas,[27] including the villages of Mashtal and Mishwar, to the southwest of Al-Hawl.[39] On the same day, the SDF also captured the Jabisah and Kabibah oil fields,[4][40][41] both to the northeast of Al-Shaddadi. By this time, SDF forces had captured 48 villages and hamlets since the start of the offensive.[42] At least 49 ISIL militants were killed, and another dozen were wounded in the clashes.[27][39] 38 civilians were killed by US-led coalition airstrikes.[27]
On 19 February 2016, the SDF cut off the al-Shaddadi–al-Baaj road,[43] capturing multiple villages in the process, including: Dilan, Simalka, Ballouna, Dabshi, Meshal, Mashwar, Khirba, Givara, Umm Tanak, Umm Bouja, and Misherfa.[44] On the same day, the SDF reached the northeastern entrance of Al-Shaddadi, and they also advanced within 3 kilometers of Al-Shaddadi's northwestern outskirts,[45] capturing the town of Sabaa.[7] SDF forces also captured another 47 villages around Al-Shaddadi, and fully besieged the city.[46] This also trapped many ISIL fighters in a pocket of villages between Al-Arishah and Al-Shaddadi.[46][47]
Later on 19 February, al-Shaddadi was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces,[5][6][38][48][49] A US-led coalition airstrike also killed several high-ranking ISIL leaders in Al-Shaddadi on 19 February.[16] On the same day, a YPG position to the east of Al-Hasakah was bombed by an unidentified jet, killing three YPG fighters and wounding two others.[22]
On 20 February, the SDF advanced further south of al-Shaddadi and captured the village of al-Alwa, as well as the town of al-Fadghami.[citation needed] SDF forces also captured 12 farms and villages during this advance.[50] This left Markada as the last town controlled by ISIL in the Al-Hasakah Governorate. On the same day, the SDF celebrated capturing Al-Shaddadi from ISIL.[1]
On 21 February, violent clashes erupted, after ISIL attempted to infiltrate an area in the al-Shaddadi countryside.[51] On the same day, SDF forces advanced further southward, coming within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. A pro-Kurdish source claimed the SDF also reportedly captured the town of Markada, although this was not independently confirmed. At least 64 ISIL militants were killed in the clashes. It was also reported that the SDF found and eliminated three separate groups of ISIL militants that were hiding in Al-Shaddadi city, and that ISIL was sending reinforcements from the Deir ez-Zor Governorate to prevent further SDF advances.[25][52] Later on the same day, the SDF released an operations statement sheet, declaring that they had liberated 2,400 square kilometers (1,491 square miles) of land from ISIL forces.[9] The SDF began cleanup operations to remove the mines and booby traps left behind by ISIL, and to sweep the countryside for any remaining ISIL militants.[9]
Late on 21 February, ISIL forces launched a counterattack, in an attempt to recapture the city, re-entering Al-Shaddadi's western and southern suburbs, and recapturing the town of Sabaa. However, SDF forces managed to repel the attack and recaptured Sabaa; 11 SDF fighters and seven ISIL militants were reported killed in the clashes.[23][53][54] Afterwards, SDF fighters began fortifying Al-Shaddadi, to protect against future attacks. The SDF also stated that they would never give up control of the city to ISIL, and that they would work to push ISIL out of the entire Al-Hasakah Province and keep them from returning.[23] Early on 22 February, ISIL launched another counterattack on Al-Shaddadi's southern outskirts, resulting in additional clashes, before they were repelled by the SDF once again.[53] Early on 23 February, SDF forces recaptured the Jabisah oil field, following an earlier ISIL counterattack.[55] Clashes also erupted to the south of Al-Shaddadi.[56]
On 23 February, ISIL also released the last 42 Assyrian Christian hostages that they had captured from the Khabur Valley region, during a previous offensive in February 2015.[10] It was also reported that half of Al-Shaddadi had been cleared of the bombs left behind by ISIL.[57] Later on the same day, ISIL's forces in the southern countryside of Al-Shaddadi were reported to have collapsed and retreated back to the Markada District.[21] Early on 24 February, the SOHR reported that two more civilians had been killed by US-led coalition airstrikes near Al-Shaddadi,[29] while clashes continued south of Al-Shaddadi.[58] Additionally, four YPG fighters, one of them a German volunteer, were killed in the Al-Shaddadi countryside during clashes with ISIL.[24] Later on the same day, it was reported that 120 ISIL militants had been found and killed, during a clearing operation in a village south of Al-Shaddadi.[26] Late on 24 February, it was reported that the SDF had ended their offensive operations, after they completely secured and demined the city of Al-Shaddadi, along with the surrounding countryside, including the pocket between Al-Arishah and Al-Shaddadi.[2][8] By the end of the offensive, the SDF had captured 315+ villages and 2,400+ square kilometers (1,491+ square miles) of land from ISIL.[3] It was later revealed that during the offensive, a small number of US commanders had traveled to the frontlines to help advise SDF forces, and to coordinate airstrikes.[19]
Strategic analysis
The capture of al-Shaddadi left the ISIL capital city of Raqqa as the only major ISIL stronghold near SDF-held territories in northeastern Syria.[1] The capture of al-Shaddadi was considered to be a major victory for the SDF and the US-led Coalition, because Al-Shaddadi was the city from which ISIL had planned all of its attacks on Kurdish-held territories in the Al-Hasakah Province, and because Al-Shaddadi was also the last major hub on the Syrian side of the Mosul-Raqqa route, following the capture of al-Hawl. Although the SDF managed to sever another key supply route between Raqqa and Mosul,[59] Coalition Spokesman Col. Christopher Garver noted that ISIL could still switch to using multiple other goat trails and desert roads, even though those routes would be much harder to navigate.[1] ISIL's sudden collapse in al-Shaddadi was described as "swift and surprising," and the withdrawal was thought to be due to ISIL's tactical reasoning or an attempt to alarm Turkey with rapid Kurdish advances.[4] In late March 2016, US officials revealed that the Al-Shaddadi offensive had originally been planned as a 6-week-long operation, but instead, ISIL forces there collapsed within days.[60]
On 26 August, ISIL forces launched a counterattack on the southern Shaddadi countryside after shelling and detonating 2 car bombs at SDF positions, reportedly capturing 3 villages in the area.[62] ISIL conducted another attack on the city's suburbs on 11 September, but the attack was repelled by the SDF.[63]
The Syriac Military Council is an Assyrian/Syriac military organisation in Syria, part of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 8 January 2013. According to the Syriac Military Council, the goal of the organisation is to stand up for the national rights of and to protect Assyrians in Syria. It operates mostly in the densely populated Assyrian areas of Al-Hasakah Governorate, and is affiliated to the Syriac Union Party.
Al-Shaddadah or al-Shaddadi is a town in southern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. The town is the administrative center of the al-Shaddadah Subdistrict, which consists of 16 municipalities. At the 2004 census, al-Shaddadah had a population of 15,806.
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.
Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa was a rebel group in the Syrian Civil War. It was formed in September 2012 in the Raqqa Governorate. Aligned with jihadist factions for its first years, at the end of 2015, it joined the Syrian Democratic Forces. During an interview by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi in 2015, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa's media director stated that the group wants a "civil democratic state". He also claimed that the group had no relations with the Syrian National Coalition based in Turkey.
The 2014 Eastern Syria offensive was an offensive launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant against government-held military installations in eastern Syria during the Syrian Civil War, after expelling the Syrian rebels from the region. The offensive is considered to be the largest military attack against the Syrian government launched by ISIL since its establishment. It is also considered to be a reaction to Syrian Army military operations against ISIL positions in eastern Syria.
Al-Hawl, also spelled al-Hole, al-Hol, al-Hool and al-Houl, is a town in eastern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria, under control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. It is the administrative center of the Al-Hawl Subdistrict consisting of 22 municipalities. At the 2004 census, the town had a population of 3,409. Al-Hawl is the site of the Al-Hawl refugee camp.
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.
AANES–Syria relations concern the military and political relations between the Ba'athist Syrian Arab Republic and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), a de facto autonomous multi-ethnic region in northern and eastern Syria. The Syrian government does not officially recognise the autonomy of the AANES, and advocates a centralist approach to the governance of Syria. The NES seeks the federalisation of Syria. For most of the Syrian civil war, there has been a non-aggression pact between the military of Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces, with occasional confrontations and some cooperation against Islamist groups, in particular against the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. While the two sides co-operated militarily under Russian supervision since 2019, with Syrian and Russian troops stationed along the Turkish border to prevent further advances, political negotiations have ended in failure. The Syrian government has no authority or institutions in North and East Syria outside of its two security boxes in Qamishli/Qamislo and Al-Hasakah/Heseke. The Autonomous Administration does not allow the Syrian Government to hold elections in areas under its control.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led coalition formed by ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded in 10 October 2015, the SDF claims that its mission is fighting to create a secular, democratic and federalised Syria. The SDF is opposed by Turkey, who claims the group has direct links to the PKK, which it recognizes as a terrorist group.
The Forces of the Brave, generally called the al-Sanadid Forces, are a militia formed by the Arab Shammar tribe to fight against the Islamic State. Even though the tribe's Syrian strongholds are mostly in the Jazira Canton of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, such as at al-Yaarubiyah and Tell Hamis, the militia operates throughout most of the AANES. The red colour in their flag represents blood while the yellow represents the light, calling themselves “marchers on the red death”. The al-Sanadid Forces are affiliated with the co-governor/co-president of Jazira Canton and tribal leader Humaydi Daham al-Hadi, and are led by Humaydi's son Bandar al-Humaydi.
The 2015 al-Hawl offensive was an offensive launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during the Syrian Civil War, in order to capture the strategic town of al-Hawl and the surrounding countryside from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The offensive consisted of separate operations in three different areas: Tell Brak, al-Hawl, and the southern al-Hasakah city countryside.
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 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.
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.
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.
The Raqqa campaign 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.
Rojda Felat is a Syrian Kurdish senior commander of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who has fought in the Rojava conflict since it began in 2012, and has led several major campaigns against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A revolutionary feminist, Felat's stated goal is to achieve social transformation in the Middle East through the YPJ, "liberating the Kurdish woman and the Syrian woman in general from the ties and control of traditional society, as well as liberating the entirety of Syria from terrorism and tyranny".
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 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, and their allies in the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) coalition.
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Syrian Democratic Forces 
International Freedom Battalion 
CJTF–OIR 
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 
Simko Çelê [11] 
Rojda Felat [12] 
Alwan al-Shammari [14] 
Adnan Abu Amjad [14] [15] 
Qehreman [14] 
US: Unknown [19] 
