East Aleppo offensive (2024) | |||||||||
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Part of Syrian civil war and Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war | |||||||||
Territorial control in Manbij | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Supported by: CJTF–OIR (only in Ayn al-Arab District) [2] | Syrian Interim Government Supported by: Turkey [3] | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Mazlum Abdi Ferhad Şamî | Fadlallah al-Haji Adnan al-Ahmad Abu Fayez † [4] [5] Munir Hajak † [6] | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
Turkish Air Force | |||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
44 killed [a] Dozens wounded[ citation needed ] | 115 killed [b] 1 Bayraktar TB2 destroyed [15] [16] [17] 2 radar systems (SDF claim) [18] 72 killed (SDF claim) [c] 20+ vehicles destroyed (SDF claim) [26] 7 armored vehicles and 2 tanks (SDF claim) [27] [28] [29] | ||||||||
7 civilians killed [d] |
The East Aleppo offensive (2024) is an operation launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces in December 2024 against the Syrian National Army (SNA) to regain control of territory that was lost during the Manbij offensive and to advance from Dayr Hafir into the Tishrin Dam area. [33] [34]
Following the SNA capture of Manbij city on 11 December, a temporary ceasefire agreement in the region was reached between the SNA and SDF through U.S. mediation. [35] However, military activities did not cease, which eventually resulted in fighting in the Kobani countryside. In addition, the SNA refused the evacuation of SDF fighters or civilians from Manbij, executed captured SDF soldiers and attempted offensive operations against the SDF, resulting in fighting near the Tishrin Dam. [36] [37] The following week, the SNA stated that they ended the US-brokered ceasefire with the SDF. [38] Turkey stated that the ceasefire did not exist. [39]
The offensive comes around the same time in which several Syrian rebel factions agreed with de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to dissolve their groups and to fall under the country's new Defense ministry. The SDF did not participate in this meeting in Damascus. [40]
The Manbij Military Council of the SDF initiated an offensive against the Syrian National Army near the Tishrin Dam on 23 December 2024. [41] The SDF managed to take control over several villages south east of Manbij. [42] [43]
The following day, SDF started assaults in two different directions. At the Dayr Hafir front, the SDF advanced from the Jirah Military Airbase along the west bank of the Euphrates where they took control of the Babiri water pumping station, five kilometres south of the town of Al-Khafsah and advanced from the Tishrin Dam into the Abu Qalqal district. Further north, fighting also started around the Qarah Qawzak bridge. [44] A spokesperson of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) stated that its fighters were located just over 11 kilometers (7 miles) away from the center of Manbij city, which was later confirmed by the SOHR. [45] [46] During the clashes with YPJ and MMC at least 12 SNA fighters were killed in the Tishrin Dam area. [12] On 26 December, the SDF spokesperson Ferhad Şamî made a statement at the Tishrin Dam confirming SDF control over the area. [47] [48] The next morning, fighting reached the surroundings of the Najm castle. [49]
Between 27 and 31 December, the clashes continued mainly in the Abu Qalqal direction, where both sides executed several infiltration attempts. [13] [14] [50] Meanwhile the SDF claimed that the Turkish Armed Forces are establishing two military bases in the Manbij countryside. [51] The Deputy Press Secretary of the Pentagon, Sabrina Singh, stated during a press briefing that the US-brokered ceasefire around the city of Manbij is "still holding" despite the concurrent fighting. [52]
In early January 2025, both sides attacked each other with drone strikes, including a Turkish drone strike targeting the sugar factory in Dayr Hafir. [53] The SNA, backed by Turkish artillery, launched an attack on Khirbet Zamalah south of the Tishrin dam. [54] The SDF on their part managed to down a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone in the southern Kobani countryside. [55] Continued clashes between SDF and SNA forces occurred west of the Tishrin dam and further north near the Qarah Qawzak bridge. At least 50 SNA and 12 SDF fighters were killed in the clashes. [56] [11] The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) assessed that the SDF may seek to link-up their forces with these two advances to strengthen supply lines. [57] At the same time, US-led coalition forces began constructing a military base in the city of Kobani, being the first time that US forces enter the eastern Aleppo Governorate since their departure following the 2019 Turkish offensive, [2] [58] though the reports have been denied by the Pentagon. [59] On 4 January, clashes continued in the vicinity of Sad Teshrin and Jisr Qarqozak, leaving 20 SNA and 8 SDF fighters dead. [6]
Relations between the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are unclear and varied among the different FSA factions. Both are opposed to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. However, several clashes between the two have taken place. Under pressure from the United States, some FSA groups coordinate with the YPG to battle ISIL under the name of the Syrian Democratic Forces, although some other FSA groups remained in conflict with the YPG and the SDF, including FSA groups in the SDF.
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 Manbij Military Council (MMC) is a coalition established by several groups in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), primarily the Northern Sun Battalion, on 2 April 2016 at the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates. The MMC led the SDF's Manbij offensive from June 2016 that led to the capture of the city of Manbij from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant two months later. Most fighters in the MMC are from Manbij and the surrounding areas.
Arima, also spelled Orayma or Arimah, is a town and seat of a subdistrict (nahiya) in Al-Bab District, located 20 kilometers (12 mi) northeast of the city of al-Bab and 65 kilometers (40 mi) northeast of Aleppo in northern Syria. In the 2004 census, it had a population of 2,839. The town of Qabasin is also to the south-west, and closer than Al-Bab. Manbij city is to the north-east. In course of the Syrian Civil War, the town repeatedly changed hands. As of 2020, it was under dual control of the Syrian government and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The al-Bab Military Council (BMC) is an ethnically mixed force of the Syrian Democratic Forces, consisting of Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen militias from northern Aleppo Governorate. The BMC currently maintains a presence in several villages west of Manbij, though its stated goal is to capture al-Bab, currently under the Syrian Interim Government.
The western al-Bab offensive was a military operation launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the countryside of northwestern Aleppo Governorate, south of the towns of Mare' and Tel Rifaat.
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 western al-Bab offensive was a multi-sided military confrontation between the Syrian Army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), 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.
The Syrian National Army, also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups that participates in the Syrian civil war. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the start of the war in July 2011, it was officially established in 2017 under the auspices of Turkey, who provides funding, training, and military support.
The Northern Democratic Brigade is a Free Syrian Army unit that is closely allied to the Syrian Kurdish YPG and YPJ in Afrin Region since 2014. Led by Absi Taha, Alexander Khalil, and Alexander Alaa, it also joined the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in November 2015. The initial members of the group originated from Jabal Zawiya in Idlib, and it has recruited Arabs from Idlib, Aleppo, and other cities in northern Syria since allying with the YPG. Since joining the SDF, the unit has begun to operate across much of northern and eastern Syria, participating in operations against anti-SDF Syrian opposition factions, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the Syrian National Army.
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.
On 9 October 2019, the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and later it involved the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Syria. It was code-named the Operation Peace Spring by Turkey.
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The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2022. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in Casualties of the Syrian civil war.
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On 27 November 2024, a coalition of Syrian revolutionary factions called the Military Operations Command led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by allied Turkish-backed groups in the Syrian National Army (SNA) launched an offensive against the pro-government Syrian Arab Army (SAA) forces in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama Governorates in Syria. The operation was codenamed Deterrence of Aggression by HTS. This is the first time that opposition forces in the Syrian civil war launched a military offensive campaign since the March 2020 Idlib ceasefire.
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 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.
The 2024 Kobani clashes were a military campaign conducted by the pro-Turkish Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Turkish Air Force against Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) 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.
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