Syrian Democratic Forces

Syrian Democratic Forces
Arabic: قوات سوريا الديمقراطية
Kurdish: Hêzên Sûriya Demokratîk
هێزى ديموكراتيى سوورى

Syriac: ܚܝ̈ܠܘܬܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܐ ܕܝܡܩܪܛܝܬܐ
LeadersSDF General: Mazloum Abdi[1]
SDF Spokesman: Kino Gabriel[2]
Dates of operation10 October 2015 – present
AllegianceAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Group(s)Groups based in all of Northeastern Syria

Groups based in the Jazira Region & Deir ez-Zor Governorate

Groups based in the Euphrates Region

Groups based in the Afrin Region, Manbij Region, & Aleppo city (including Sheikh Maqsood), withdrew to Manbij in March 2018

Groups based in the Manbij Region

Groups based in the Raqqa District & Al-Thawrah District

HeadquartersQamishli (capital city)[47]
Active regionsNorthern Syria
IdeologyDemocracy
Decentralization
Secularism
Ethnic minority rights
Regionalism
Factions:
Size100,000 (2021 estimate)[50]
Allies

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria NES police forces

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria NES civilian defence forces

Opponents
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War
Preceded by
Euphrates Volcano

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)[a] is a Kurdish-led[12][104][105] 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).[106][107][108] The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance.[104] 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.[109]

Formed as a rebel alliance in the Syrian civil war,[110][111] the SDF is composed primarily of Kurdish, Arab, and Assyrian/Syriac, as well as some smaller Armenian, Turkmen and Chechen forces.[112][10] It is militarily led by the People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey. SDF also includes several ethnic militias, and various factions of the Syrian opposition's Free Syrian Army.[113][114]

The primary opponents of the SDF are the various Islamist, Syrian nationalist, and pro-Turkish forces involved in the civil war. Major enemies include al-Qaeda affiliates, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Syrian National Army (TFSA), the Turkish Armed Forces, and their allies. The SDF has focused primarily on the ISIL,[115] successfully driving them from important strategic areas, such as Al-Hawl, Shaddadi, Tishrin Dam, Manbij, al-Tabqah, Tabqa Dam, Baath Dam, and ISIL's former capital of Raqqa.[116][117][118][119][120][121] In March 2019, the SDF announced the total territorial defeat of ISIL in Syria, with the SDF taking control of the last stronghold in Baghuz.[122]

Since the territorial defeat of ISIL, the SDF has increasingly been involved with resisting the growing Turkish occupation of northern Syria.[123]

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