The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, and Deir Ez-Zor. The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian civil war, in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part.
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 Kurdish Front is a predominantly Kurdish Syrian rebel faction participating in the Syrian Civil War.
Euphrates Region, formerly Kobanî Canton, is the central of three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, comprising Ayn al-Arab District of the Aleppo Governorate, Tell Abyad District of the Raqqa Governorate, and the westernmost tip of the Ras al-Ayn Subdistrict of the Ras al-Ayn District of Al-Hasakah Governorate. Euphrates Region unilaterally declared autonomy in January 2014 and since de facto is under direct democratic government in line with the polyethnic Constitution of Rojava.
Jaysh al-Salam was an operations room of Free Syrian Army factions that operated in northern and eastern Syria with the goal of attacking the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Raqqa.
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 Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led coalition of U.S.-backed left-wing ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded on 10 October 2015, the SDF claims that its mission is fighting to create a secular, democratic and federalized Syria. The SDF is opposed by Turkey, which claims the group has direct links to the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, the European Union, and some other countries.
The Syrian Democratic Council is the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The SDC's stated mission is working towards the implementation of a "Pluralistic, democratic and decentralized system for all of Syria".
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 Turkish Armed Forces and its ally the Syrian National Army have occupied areas of northern Syria since August 2016, during the Syrian civil war. Though these areas nominally acknowledge a government affiliated with the Syrian opposition, in practice they constitute a separate proto-state under the dual authority of decentralized native local councils and Turkish military administration.
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.
The 2018 Syrian-Turkish border clashes began on 31 October 2018 when the Turkish Armed Forces began to shell People's Protection Units (YPG) positions near the cities of Kobani and Tell Abyad as well as surrounding villages. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been leading a separatist movement and carrying out dozens of terrorist attacks in Turkey for over 40 years.
Farhad Abdi Shaheen, better known by his nom de guerreMazlum Kobane, is a Syrian Kurdish military leader, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The 2019 Tell Rifaat Clashes were a military confrontation between Turkey and allied Free Syrian Army groups against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in early May 2019.
The Yazidi House is an umbrella organization of Yazidi organizations in the Rojava region of northern Syria. It has the goal of documenting Yazidi culture and customs, and establishing relations with Yazidi organizations internationally. During the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, the Yazidi House provided medical aid to Yazidi women and children rescued from ISIL, and is assisting in reuniting them with their families in Sinjar. The first Yazidi House was founded in the northwestern Syrian village Basufan in 2012, after the area was captured by the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units.
The Martyr Nubar Ozanyan Brigade is an Armenian military unit in Syria and a part of the Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey (TİKKO), and the Syrian Democratic Forces. The brigade was founded in the Marziya Church in the Assyrian village of Tell Goran on 24 April 2019, the 104th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
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.
This is the order of battle for the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, codenamed "Operation Peace Spring" by Turkey. The pro-Turkish forces, including the Syrian National Army, are opposed by the armed forces of the NES, including the Syrian Democratic Forces.
