Syrian Democratic Forces#Signatory groups

The establishment of the SDF was announced on 11 October 2015 during a press conference in al-Hasakah.{{Cite web |date=15 October 2015 |title=Declaration of establishment by Syrian Democratic Forces |url=http://kurdishquestion.com/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/declaration-of-establishment-by-democratic-syria-forces/1179-declaration-of-establishment-by-democratic-syria-forces.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224085811/http://kurdishquestion.com/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/declaration-of-establishment-by-democratic-syria-forces/1179-declaration-of-establishment-by-democratic-syria-forces.html |archive-date=24 February 2016 |access-date=15 October 2015 |publisher=Kurdish Question }} The alliance built on longstanding previous cooperation between the founding partners.{{Cite web |last=Holmes |first=Amy Austin |date=28 July 2020 |title=Arabs Across Syria Join the Kurdish-Led Syrian Democratic Forces |url=https://merip.org/2020/07/arabs-across-syria-join-the-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces/ |access-date=8 October 2020 |publisher=MERIP}} While the People's Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin, YPJ) had been operating throughout the regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the other founding partners were more geographically focused.

Geographically focused on the Euphrates Region were the YPG's partners in the Euphrates Volcano joint operations room, several mainstream Syrian rebel factions of the Free Syrian Army, who had helped defend the Kurdish town of Kobanî during the Siege of Kobanî. Liwa Thuwwar al-Raqqa had been expelled by the al-Nusra Front and ISIL from the city of Raqqa for its alliance with the YPG. The group participated in the capture of Tell Abyad from the Islamic State.

Geographically focused on the Jazira Region in northeast Syria were the Assyrian Syriac Military Council (Mawtbo Fulhoyo Suryoyo, MFS) and the al-Sanadid Forces of the Arab Shammar tribe, both of whom had cooperated with the YPG in fighting ISIL since 2013.{{Cite web |date=28 May 2015 |title=YPG, backed by al- Khabour Guards Forces, al- Sanadid army and the Syriac Military Council, expels IS out of more than 230 towns, villages and farmlands |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/05/ypg-backed-by-al-khabour-guards-forces-al-sanadid-army-and-the-syriac-military-council-expels-is-out-of-more-than-230-towns-villages-and-farmlands/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529003959/http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/05/ypg-backed-by-al-khabour-guards-forces-al-sanadid-army-and-the-syriac-military-council-expels-is-out-of-more-than-230-towns-villages-and-farmlands/ |archive-date=29 May 2015 |access-date=16 October 2015 |website=Syrian Observatory For Human Rights }} The MFS is further politically aligned with the YPG via their shared secular ideology of democratic confederalism, which in the Assyrian community is known as the Dawronoye movement.{{Cite web |last=Drott |first=Carl |date=25 May 2015 |title=The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin |url=http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113005635/http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/revolutionaries-bethnahrin |archive-date=13 November 2016 |access-date=12 October 2016 |publisher=Warscapes }}

Geographically focused on the Manbij Region was the Army of Revolutionaries (Jaysh al-Thuwar, JAT), originally an alliance within the FSA of several groups of diverse ethnic and political backgrounds, who had in common that they had been rejected by the mainstream Syrian opposition for their secular, anti-Islamist views and affiliations.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

In 2017, then-Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Raymond Thomas stated that they were aware of Turkey's concerns about the YPG's ties to the PKK since 2015. For this reason, it was necessary for YPG to change their name and incorporate the word "democratic". Thomas explained that this is how the name Syrian Democratic Forces came to be.{{Cite news |date=22 July 2017 |title=U.S. general told Syria's YPG: 'You have got to change your brand' |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us-general-told-syrias-ypg-you-have-got-to-change-your-brand-idUSKBN1A62SS/ |work=Reuters}}

The following groups signed the founding document:

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

1. People's Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, YPG)
2. Women's Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin, YPJ)
3. Al-Sanadid Forces
4. Syriac Military Council (Mawtbo Fulhoyo Suryoyo, MFS)
5. Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa
6. Euphrates Volcano
7. Army of Revolutionaries (Jaysh al-Thuwar, JAT)
8. 99th Infantry Brigade
9. Brigade Groups of al-Jazira

{{div col end}}

On 10 December 2015, after a two-day conference, the Syrian Democratic Council was established. Human rights activist Haytham Manna and Ilham Ehmed were elected co-chairman/woman at its founding.{{Cite web |date=14 December 2015 |title=Haytham Manna Elected Joint Chairman of Syrian Democratic Council |url=http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30279/Haytham_Manna_Elected_Joint_Chairman_Syrian_Democratic_Council |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023192133/http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/30279/Haytham_Manna_Elected_Joint_Chairman_Syrian_Democratic_Council |archive-date=23 October 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |website=The Syrian Observer }} The Assembly establishing the Syrian Democratic Council was made up of 13 members of different ethnic, economic and political backgrounds.

Initially, the mostly Kurdish YPG/YPJ comprised the majority of SDF and dominated it organizationally.{{Cite web |last=Casagrande |first=Genevieve |date=20 January 2016 |title=The Road to Raqqah |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/The%20Road%20to%20ar-Raqqah%20ID.pdf |website=The Institute for the study of War}}{{sfn|Austin Holmes|2019|pp=2–3}} However, it has had smaller minorities of other communities involved in it from the beginning, including Christians, Yezidis, Turkmen and Arabs.{{sfn|Austin Holmes|2019|pp=2–3, 7–8}}

The participation of thousands of Arab troops fighting under the SDF, in its military councils as well as various militias and rebel groups, during the battle for Raqqa in 2015 initially made local Arab groups see that Arabs and the SDF could work together. This encouraged increased Arab membership at the time.{{Cite web|date=8 February 2021 |title=Is the SDF a "Kurdish force?" |url=https://npasyria.com/en/54268/ |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=North press agency |language=en-US}} By 2017, the SDF was reported by the United States Department of Defense to have an Arab majority.{{Cite web |date=1 March 2017 |title=Department of Defense Press Briefing by Gen. Townsend via teleconference from Baghdad, Iraq |url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/1099469/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-gen-townsend-via-teleconference-from-ba/ |access-date=24 December 2023 |website=defense.gov}}{{Cite web |date=3 March 2017 |title=US commander says Syrian Arab Coalition is now majority group within SDF |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/03032017 |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=Rudaw}} A 2019 Wilson Center study also suggested that a majority of the Syrian Democratic Forces' personnel are Arabs. The study was based on a representative survey with 391 SDF fighters; of the total respondents, 68.7% were Arabs, 17.2% Kurds, 12.5% Christians, 0.9% Yezidis, and 0.6% Turkmens. By comparison, the SDF itself estimated at the time that 50–70% of its troops were Arabs, 30–50% Kurds, 5% Christians, 2% Yezidis, and 2% Turkmens.{{sfn|Austin Holmes|2019|p=9}}

Unofficial figures, quoted in Al Majalla in 2021, similarly indicated a sizeable Arab majority, 65,000 out of 100,000 total. The Arab membership of the SDF may relate to the pay levels and conscription going on within the Arab majority Northeast Syria region, as the SDF has a mandatory 1 year of service for all men living in its area of control.{{Cite web |title=Why Arabs are increasingly joining the SDF in Syria's northeast |url=https://en.majalla.com/node/295071 |access-date=24 July 2023 |website=en.majalla.com |language=en}}

{{As of|2022}}, the SDF is in control of about 25% of the territory of Syria. In 2018, following a Turkish invasion into north west Syria, the SDF was forced from Afrin.{{Cite magazine |date=4 April 2019 |title=How Trump Betrayed the General Who Defeated ISIS |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/how-trump-betrayed-the-general-who-defeated-isis |access-date=5 December 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}} In October 2019, the SDF had to retreat from Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn after a renewed Turkish invasion of Syrian territory.

At the time of its founding in late 2015, The Economist described the SDF as "essentially a subsidiary of the Kurdish YPG".{{Cite news |date=12 February 2016 |title=Global powers seek to revive diplomatic process |url=http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1363937520&Country=Syria&topic=Politics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329144506/http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1363937520&Country=Syria&topic=Politics |archive-date=29 March 2016 |access-date=1 May 2016 |newspaper=The Economist }} At the end of October, the al-Shaitat tribal militia, the Desert Hawks Brigade, joined the SDF to fight ISIL in the southern countryside of Hasakah Governorate.{{Cite web |date=7 November 2015 |title=أبناء العشائر العربية يشكلون لواءً وينضمون إلى QSD |url=http://hawarnews.com/%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%84%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1%D9%8B-%D9%88%D9%8A/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118063447/http://hawarnews.com/%D8%A3%D8%A8%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%84%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1%D9%8B-%D9%88%D9%8A/ |archive-date=18 November 2015 |access-date=24 November 2015 |website=Hawar News Agency }} In November, the FSA group Euphrates Jarabulus Battalions announced its accession to the SDF.{{Cite web |date=22 November 2015 |title=من هم تجمع كتائب فرات جرابلس؟ |url=http://www.hawarnews.com/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%9F/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124123256/http://www.hawarnews.com/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%85-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%9F/ |archive-date=24 November 2015 |access-date=24 November 2015 |website=Hawar News Agency }} In December, members of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate-based Arab tribe al-Shaitat joined the SDF, sending fighters to al-Shaddadah.

File:Hussam Awak.png, a former brigadier general in the Syrian Armed Forces who resigned in 2005 and joined the SDF in October 2016, later leaving in December 2017]]

With continuous growth in particular due to Arab groups and volunteers joining, in March 2016 only an estimated 60% of the men and women in the SDF fighting force were ethnic Kurds.{{Cite news |title=Syrian-Kurdish SDF successfully absorbing non-Kurdish groups, says US |url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/090320161 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312050842/http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/090320161 |archive-date=12 March 2016 |access-date=9 March 2016 |agency=Rudaw }} Growth in particular of Arab, Turkmen and Assyrian participation in the SDF has since continued. In an interview on the first anniversary of the SDF's founding, spokesman Talal Silo, an ethnic Turkmen and former commander of the Seljuq Brigade, stated that "we started with 13 factions and now there are 32 factions", and that "90 percent" of the SDF growth since it began its operations were ethnic Arabs.{{Cite web |date=10 October 2016 |title=Talal Silo: our major aim founding SDF was uniting military factions |url=http://en.hawarnews.com/talal-silo-our-major-aim-founding-sdf-was-uniting-military-factions/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201033301/http://en.hawarnews.com/talal-silo-our-major-aim-founding-sdf-was-uniting-military-factions/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |access-date=15 October 2016 |publisher=Hawar News Agency }} In the context of the November 2016 Northern Raqqa offensive, The Economist said the SDF fighting force to be composed of "about 20,000 YPG fighters and about 10,000 Arabs".{{Cite news |date=11 November 2016 |title=Anyone for Raqqa? There is less to the offensive on Islamic State's capital than meets the eye |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21709967-there-less-offensive-islamic-states-capital-meets-eye-anyone |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111035800/http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21709967-there-less-offensive-islamic-states-capital-meets-eye-anyone |archive-date=11 November 2016 |access-date=11 November 2016 |newspaper=The Economist }} The next month in December 2016, Colonel John Dorrian, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman, stated that the SDF contained around 45,000 fighters, of which more than 13,000 were Arabs.{{Cite web |date=8 December 2016 |title=Department of Defense Press Briefing by Col. Dorrian via teleconference from Baghdad, Iraq |url=http://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1025099/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-col-dorrian-via-teleconference-from-bag |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161210151710/http://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1025099/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-col-dorrian-via-teleconference-from-bag |archive-date=10 December 2016 |access-date=11 December 2016 |website=US Department of Defense }}

• On 6 January 2016 an additional 400 members of the Arab Deir ez-Zor Governorate-based tribe al-Shaitat joined the SDF, sending fighters to Al-Shaddadah.{{Cite web |date=7 January 2016 |title=400 Sheitat tribesmen joined U.S.-backed alliance to fight ISIS: sources SYRIA NEWS | ZAMAN ALWSL |url=https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/13416.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195642/https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/13416.html |archive-date=9 October 2017 |access-date=31 March 2016 |website=En.zamanalwsl.net }}
• On 5 February 2016, a group called Martyrs of Dam Brigade from an Arab village called al-Makhmar (liberated by the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Tishrin Dam offensive) joined the Northern Sun Battalion and the SDF.{{Cite web |date=4 February 2016 |title=Martyrs of Dam Brigade join Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) | Washington Kurdish Institute |url=http://dckurd.org/2016/02/04/martyrs-of-dam-brigade-join-syrian-democratic-forces-sdf/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309205404/http://dckurd.org/2016/02/04/martyrs-of-dam-brigade-join-syrian-democratic-forces-sdf/ |archive-date=9 March 2016 |access-date=31 March 2016 |website=Dckurd.org }}
• On 28 February 2016, a group called Martyr Qasim Areef Battalion from Sarrin was formed and joined the Army of Revolutionaries and the SDF.{{Cite web |date=8 July 2016 |title=List of groups joining Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) |url=https://ethnicmapsofkurd.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/list-of-groups-joining-syrian-democratic-forces-sdf/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813060558/https://ethnicmapsofkurd.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/list-of-groups-joining-syrian-democratic-forces-sdf/ |archive-date=13 August 2017 |access-date=12 August 2017 |website=Ethnic Maps of Kurd }}
• On 10 March 2016, a group called the Soldiers of the Two Holy Mosques Brigade joined the Syrian Democratic Forces as part of the Northern Sun Battalion. It was formerly part of the Army of Mujahideen's 19th Division. The group operated in the northern Aleppo Governorate countryside, and also have a presence in Aleppo city and Kobani.
• On 12 March 2016, it was reported that more than 200 locals from the earlier liberated areas around the town of Shaddadi joined the SDF, most of them Arabs.{{Cite web |date=12 March 2016 |title=Dozens of young men join western-backed SDF to fight ISIS northeast Syria |url=http://aranews.net/2016/03/dozens-young-men-join-western-backed-sdf-fight-isis-northeast-syria/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410070102/http://aranews.net/2016/03/dozens-young-men-join-western-backed-sdf-fight-isis-northeast-syria/ |archive-date=10 April 2016 |access-date=31 March 2016 |publisher=ARA News }}
• On 19 March 2016, it was reported that a group under the name of Liwa Ahrar al-Raqqa ("Free Raqqa Brigade") joined the SDF.{{Cite news |date=19 March 2016 |title=Who are the banner of free tenderness? |url=http://www.hawarnews.com/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%9F/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107155809/http://www.hawarnews.com/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%9F/ |archive-date=7 November 2016 |access-date=12 November 2016 |agency=Hawar News Agency }} The group had earlier been known under the name of Liwa al-Jihad fi Sabeel Allah ("Jihad in the Path of God Brigade") and had in September 2014 been part of the Euphrates Volcano operations room.{{Cite web |date=11 September 2014 |title=YPG and FSA set up 'Joint Action Centre' |url=http://en.firatajans.com/news/news/ypg-and-fsa-set-up-joint-action-centre.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913011206/http://en.firatajans.com/news/news/ypg-and-fsa-set-up-joint-action-centre.htm |archive-date=13 September 2014 |publisher=Firat News }}
• On 2 April 2016 the SDF established the Manbij Military Council with the goal of securing the city of Manbij and its surrounding countryside (Manbij offensive (2016)). The council also included previously unknown groups such as the Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion, or the Manbij Turkmen Brigade which joined the Northern Sun Battalion of the Army of Revolutionaries.{{Cite web |date=3 April 2016 |title=Minbic military assembly established |url=http://en.hawarnews.com/minbic-military-assembly-established/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312063105/http://en.hawarnews.com/minbic-military-assembly-established/ |archive-date=12 March 2017 |access-date=12 March 2017 |website=Hawar News Agency }}
• On 20 June 2016, a group called the Tel Rifaat Revolutionaries Battalion, with 250 members, joined the Kurdish Front of the Army of Revolutionaries.{{Cite news |date=20 June 2016 |title=The Brigades of the Irvad rebels declare their joining the Syrian Democratic Forces in Tel Rifat Brive Aleppo |url=http://aranews.org/2016/06/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B6%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195637/http://aranews.org/2016/06/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%A8-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A3%D8%B1%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B6%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89/ |archive-date=9 October 2017 |access-date=12 July 2017 |agency=ARA News }}
• On 23 June 2016 in the al-Shaddadah area, 158 al-Shaitat tribesmen from the FSA group Elite Forces, which was not yet an SDF component group at the time, defected to join the SDF component group, the Desert Hawks Brigade, consisting of members of that tribe.{{Cite web |date=24 June 2016 |title=Kurdish-led SDF attracts more Arab fighters in Syria's Deir ez-Zor amid growing anti-ISIS campaign – ARA News |url=http://aranews.net/2016/06/kurdish-led-sdf-attracts-arab-fighters-syrias-deir-ez-zor-amid-growing-anti-isis-campaign/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160629224049/http://aranews.net/2016/06/kurdish-led-sdf-attracts-arab-fighters-syrias-deir-ez-zor-amid-growing-anti-isis-campaign/ |archive-date=29 June 2016 |access-date=12 July 2016 }}{{Cite web |title=158 مقاتلاً جديداً يلتحقون بـ ق.س.د |url=http://hawarnews.com/158-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%80-%D9%82-%D8%B3-%D8%AF/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627065438/http://www.hawarnews.com/158-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%80-%D9%82-%D8%B3-%D8%AF/ |archive-date=27 June 2016 |access-date=12 July 2016 |publisher=Hawar News Agency }}
• On 14 August 2016, after securing Manbij, the SDF established the al-Bab Military Council with the goal of securing the city of al-Bab and its surrounding countryside.{{Cite web |date=15 August 2016 |title=Syrian Democratic Forces aim to capture al-Bab, call for coalition support |url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/syrian-democratic-forces-aim-capture-al-bab-call-coalition-support/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816114639/http://aranews.net/2016/08/syrian-democratic-forces-aim-capture-al-bab-call-coalition-support/ |archive-date=16 August 2016 |access-date=16 August 2016 |website=ARA News }}
• On 21 August, in a similar fashion to the establishment of the Manbij and al-Bab Military Councils, the SDF established the Jarablus Military Council with the goal of securing the city of Jarablus and its surrounding countryside. The council also includes the newly established group, the Manbij Revolutionary Brigades.{{Cite web |date=22 August 2016 |title=Kurdish-backed Jarabulus council warns Turkey of supporting ISIS north Syria – ARA News |url=http://aranews.net/2016/08/kurdish-backed-jarabulus-council-warns-turkey-supporting-isis-north-syria/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160823201903/http://aranews.net/2016/08/kurdish-backed-jarabulus-council-warns-turkey-supporting-isis-north-syria/ |archive-date=23 August 2016 |access-date=24 August 2016 }}{{Cite web |date=22 August 2016 |title=Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê |url=https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/jarablus-military-council-warns-the-turkish-state |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023101757/https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/jarablus-military-council-warns-the-turkish-state |archive-date=23 October 2016 |access-date=4 December 2016 |publisher=ANF }}{{Cite web |title=Jarablus Military Council announced by groups within the Syrian Democratic Forces |url=https://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2016/22-august-jarablus-military-council-announced-by-groups-within |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825073612/http://isis.liveuamap.com/en/2016/22-august-jarablus-military-council-announced-by-groups-within |archive-date=25 August 2016 |access-date=24 August 2016 }} The commander of the council, General Sattar Jader from Jarabulus Hawks Brigades, was assassinated the next day, a suspect was later arrested.{{Cite web |date=23 August 2016 |title=Assassinator of Jader arrested |url=http://en.hawarnews.com/assassinator-of-jader-arrested/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161102161020/http://en.hawarnews.com/assassinator-of-jader-arrested/ |archive-date=2 November 2016 |access-date=4 December 2016 |website=Hawar News Agency }}{{Cite web |date=22 August 2016 |title=Sattar Jader, commanding general of the Jarabulus Military Council, assassinated |url=http://www.qasioun.net/ar/news/show/35216/%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%84_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195637/http://www.qasioun.net/ar/news/show/35216/%D8%A7%D8%BA%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%84_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A |archive-date=9 October 2017 |access-date=23 August 2016 |website=Qasioun }}
• On 13 September 2016 the al-Nukhbat Brigade, consisting of members from the al-Shaitat and Shammar tribes and led by Ahmad Jarba, joined the SDF. While some of its members already had earlier defected and joined the SDF, the event was called a major political coup for the SDF, as Jarba was the former President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and now agreed to work with the Syrian Democratic Council framework instead.
• On 14 October 2016, the Free Officers Union, led by Hussam Awak, said to number in the hundreds joined the SDF.
• On 31 October 2016, an all-female battalion was established within' the al-Bab Military Council.{{Cite web |title=Inspired by Kurdish units, al-Bab Military Council creates all-female battalion |url=http://aranews.net/2016/11/inspired-kurdish-ypj-units-al-bab-military-council-launches-female-battalion-fight-isis/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105234328/http://aranews.net/2016/11/inspired-kurdish-ypj-units-al-bab-military-council-launches-female-battalion-fight-isis/ |archive-date=5 November 2016 |access-date=4 December 2016 |publisher=ARA News }}
• On 8 December 2016, the Deir ez-Zor Military Council was established. The founding members consist of remnants of the former Free Syrian Army council of the same name, expelled from the city by the Islamic State in 2014, having joined the SDF in November 2016.{{Cite web |last=Hassan |first=Hassan |date=27 June 2017 |title=The Battle for Raqqa and the Challenges after Liberation |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-battle-for-raqqa-and-the-challenges-after-liberation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195649/https://ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-battle-for-raqqa-and-the-challenges-after-liberation |archive-date=9 October 2017 |access-date=27 June 2017 |publisher=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point }}

According to a March 2017 statement of the Spokesman for the International Coalition forces, U.S. Colonel John Dorrian, 75 percent of the SDF forces fighting in Operation Wrath of Euphrates to isolate ISIL's de facto capital of Raqqa were Syrian Arabs, a reflection of the demographic composition of that area. "The Syrian Democratic Forces are a multi-ethnic and multi-sectarian organization, and that is one of the reasons why we're working with them and they have continued to build the Arab element of their force."{{Cite news |date=19 March 2017 |title=Coalition works with SDF as they are a multi-ethnic force, spokesman says |url=http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=13261 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319200001/http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=13261 |archive-date=19 March 2017 |access-date=19 March 2017 |work=NRT }} Concerning the SDF in general, Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend in the same month said that "I'm seeing what is probably a pretty broad coalition of people and the Kurds may be providing the leadership, because they have a capable leader who's stepped up to this challenge. And they are providing some of the organisational skill, but I see a large contingent about 23 to 25, 000 so far and growing, Arabs, who are marching to liberate their part of northern Syria. So, I don't see a Kurdish state. I see a multi-cultural, multi-party, multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian Syrian region being liberated from ISIS. Over."{{Cite news |date=29 March 2017 |title=US Gen. Townsend rebuffs Turkish reporter with 'political agenda' against SDF |url=https://komnews.com/us-gen-townsend-rebuffs-turkish-reporter-with-political-agenda-against-sdf/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330181757/https://komnews.com/us-gen-townsend-rebuffs-turkish-reporter-with-political-agenda-against-sdf/ |archive-date=30 March 2017 |access-date=30 March 2017 |work=KomNews }}

File:YPJ - Rojava.jpg

In late June, an analysis by the Counter Terrorism Center at West Point proclaimed a "growing acceptance of the SDF by Sunni Arab rebel groups" and a "growing legitimacy of the SDF". Another analysis as of late June described the YPG as "only one faction of many within the SDF", however that "it's the YPG that makes the SDF reliable and effective. The SDF's other components function as auxiliaries to the SDF's 'backbone', the YPG, which ensures effective, unitary command and control."{{Cite news |last=Heller |first=Sam |date=30 June 2017 |title=The Signal in Syria's Noise |url=https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/the-signal-in-syrias-noise/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630154243/https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/the-signal-in-syrias-noise/ |archive-date=30 June 2017 |access-date=30 June 2017 |publisher=warontherocks.com }}

• On 13 February, the first YPG/YPJ regiment in the Euphrates Region was declared. The second regiment, named Şehîd Şevger Kobanî Regiment was established on 18 February.{{Cite web |title=The second regiment contains all Kobanî components – ANHA |url=http://en.hawarnews.com/the-second-regiment-contains-all-kobani-components/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329232504/http://en.hawarnews.com/the-second-regiment-contains-all-kobani-components/ |archive-date=29 March 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 }} A total of 4 regiments were declared.{{Cite web |title=YPG declares two regiments in Cizîre Canton |url=https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/ypg-declares-two-regiments-in-cizire-canton-19426 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411220731/https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/ypg-declares-two-regiments-in-cizire-canton-19426 |archive-date=11 April 2017 |access-date=11 April 2017 |publisher=ANF News }}
• On 25 February 2017, the YPG agreed to hand over security in the Assyrian towns along the Khabur River to the Khabour Guards and Nattoreh which joined the SDF.
• On 27 February 2017, the first YPG/YPJ regiment in the Afrin Region, named Martyr Xebat Dêrik Regiment was declared.
• On 8 April 2017, the Jazeera Knights Brigade was established.
• On 10 April 2017, two new YPG/YPJ regiments, named Martyr Gabar Regiment and Dêrik and Martyr Zana Regiment were established in the Jazira Region.
• On 4 May 2017, the International Anti-Fascist Battalion was renamed to the YPG International Battalion and became a part of the YPG.
• On 17 May 2017, the Raqqa Internal Security Forces were established.
• On 8 June, between 60 and 70 Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighters, including several Sultan Murad Division commanders, defected to the Syrian Army and the SDF during infighting between TFSA factions.{{Cite web |last=Ergan |first=Uğur |date=15 June 2017 |title=Turkey confirms internal fight in Free Syrian Army |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-confirms-internal-fight-in-free-syrian-army-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=114338 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829033752/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-confirms-internal-fight-in-free-syrian-army-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=114338 |archive-date=29 August 2017 |access-date=17 June 2017 |website=Hürriyet Daily News }}
• On 10 July, an all-female Arab SDF group was established in Deir ez-Zor, the Martyr Amara Arab Women's Battalion, named after a female Arab SDF fighter that died in combat. Their area of focus will be the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The group currently consists of 35 fighters from the cities of Hama, al-Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah, along with the town of al-Shaddadah.
• On 15 August, the Revolutionary Forces was formed as part of the SDF in northern Aleppo, with the intent to fight the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.
• On 25 August 800 fighters left the Elite Forces and were integrated into the ranks of the SDF and its Deir ez-Zor Military Council. The fighters said the Elite Forces were committing corruption. These forces consist of 7 units of al-Baggara and al-Shaitat tribal fighters stationed in the eastern Raqqa and southern Hasaka countrysides.{{Cite web |last=Said |first=Rodi |date=25 August 2017 |title=U.S.-backed forces to attack Syria's Deir al-Zor soon: SDF official |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-deiralzor-idUSKCN1B516W |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826040541/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-deiralzor-idUSKCN1B516W |archive-date=26 August 2017 |access-date=25 August 2017 |website=Reuters }}
• On 4 September, a faction of the Northern Brigade, which is a TFSA unit, defected to the SDF.{{Cite web |date=4 September 2017 |title=Former Euphrates Shield group joined SDF |url=https://www.ypgrojava.org/Former-Euphrates-Shield-group-joined-SDF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910082636/https://www.ypgrojava.org/Former-Euphrates-Shield-group-joined-SDF |archive-date=10 September 2017 |access-date=9 September 2017 |website=YPG }}
• Around 10 September, dozens of militiamen of the pro-government Forces of the Fighters of the Tribes joined the SDF. These militiamen had previously been overrun by ISIL during the Central Syria campaign and retreated into SDF-held areas in order to avoid being captured by the Islamist militants. Feeling abandoned by their old commander, they eventually decided to stay with the SDF.{{Cite web |date=10 September 2017 |title=Syrian Regime-Led militias defect and join the Kurdish units |url=http://www.aldorars.com/en/news/1545 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015112824/http://www.aldorars.com/en/news/1545 |archive-date=15 October 2017 |access-date=7 May 2018 |website=Al-Dorar Al-Shamia}}
• At some point during the Battle of Raqqa (2017), the "Elite Forces" fell out with the SDF, and officially left the alliance. Thereafter, the group reportedly disintegrated.{{Cite web |last=Szuba |first=Jared |date=29 March 2019 |title=ISIS's 'caliphate' was crushed. Now Syria's Kurd-led alliance faces bigger battles |url=https://thedefensepost.com/2019/03/29/syria-sdf-kurds-face-bigger-battles-isis/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402143659/https://thedefensepost.com/2019/03/29/syria-sdf-kurds-face-bigger-battles-isis/ |archive-date=2 April 2019 |access-date=19 April 2019 |website=Defense Post}}
• On 15 November 2017, Talal Silo defected or surrendered to the Turkish Army, the nature of his leaving the SDF being up for dispute.{{Cite news |last=Francis |first=Ellen |date=16 November 2017 |editor-last=Roche |editor-first=Andrew |title=U.S.-backed Syria forces say Turkey pressured commander into defecting |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-defection/u-s-backed-syria-forces-say-turkey-pressured-commander-into-defecting-idUSKBN1DG26G/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621185210/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-defection/u-s-backed-syria-forces-say-turkey-pressured-commander-into-defecting-idUSKBN1DG26G |archive-date=21 June 2023 |work=Reuters}}{{Cite web |date=16 November 2017 |title=statement to Public opinion |url=http://sdf-press.com/en/2017/11/public-opinion-statement-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032616/http://sdf-press.com/en/2017/11/public-opinion-statement-2/ |archive-date=1 December 2017 |website=SDF Press}}{{Cite web |date=16 November 2017 |title=Reports: SDF spox Silo defects to FSA, Turkey |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/151120171 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116151838/http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/151120171 |archive-date=16 November 2017 |website=Rudaw |language=English}}
• On 27 November 2017, the Martyr Adnan Abu Amjad Regiment, consisting of 250 fighters was established and joined the Manbij Military Council
• On 20 December 2017, Hussam Awak announced his resignation from the SDF on his Facebook page without providing any reasons.

{{Update section|date=July 2018}}

File:Claimed and de facto territory of Rojava.png (red) in October 2019]]

File:Forces démocratiques syriennes 22 janvier 2018.jpg (center), spokesman of the SDF.]]

• On 13 January 2018, it was announced that the US-led Coalition would train a group called the Syrian Border Security Force (BSF), and would aim to reach 30,000 fighters, half of those being composed by current SDF members.{{Cite web |date=13 January 2018 |title=Coalition and SDF are training a 30,000-strong Syrian border force |url=https://thedefensepost.com/2018/01/13/syria-border-security-force-sdf-coalition/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114073933/https://thedefensepost.com/2018/01/13/syria-border-security-force-sdf-coalition/ |archive-date=14 January 2018 |access-date=26 March 2019 |publisher=The Defense Post}}
• On 20 January 2018, Kino Gabriel, the spokesman for the Syriac Military Council, was also made the spokesman for the SDF.{{Cite web |title=Kino Gabriel assigned as SDF spokesman |url=http://sdf-press.com/2018/01/%D8%AA%D9%83%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%81-%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%88-%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913114944/http://sdf-press.com/2018/01/%d8%aa%d9%83%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%81-%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%86%d9%88-%d8%ba%d8%a7%d8%a8%d8%b1%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%84-%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%b7%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%8b-%d8%b1%d8%b3%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b3%d9%85/ |archive-date=13 September 2018 |access-date=31 March 2019 |website=SDF press }}
• In early June 2018, the Brigade For The Liberation of Idlib and Afrin, and the Idlib Revolutionaries Brigade where established.
• In July 2018, the first Sapper unit was established.
• On 1 August 2018, the first Special Forces Regiment was formed.
• On 24 September 2018, the Assyrian Democratic Party announced the creation of a united military leadership for Nattoreh and the Khabour Guards. The united force will be known as the "Ashur Forces".

• On 23 March 2019, the SDF announced the seizure of the last of ISIL territory in Syria after capturing the Syrian city of Baghuz.{{Cite news |date=23 March 2019 |title=Trump hails fall of IS 'caliphate' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47682160 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324152704/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47682160 |archive-date=24 March 2019 |access-date=24 March 2019 }}
• On 24 April 2019, the Armenian Martyr Nubar Ozanyan Brigade was founded in the Marziya Church in Tell Goran on the 104th Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.{{Cite web |title=Armenian fighters promise to 'fight perpetrators of genocide' |url=https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/armenian-fighters-promise-to-fight-perpetrators-of-genocide-34533 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021184003/https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/armenian-fighters-promise-to-fight-perpetrators-of-genocide-34533 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |access-date=21 October 2019 |publisher=ANF News}}
• On 6 July 2019, the MFS and Khabour Guards announced the formation of the Syriac-Assyrian Military Council in order to unify the Assyrian-Syriac military organizations within the Khabour region. The declaration said the military council would work within the political ideals of the Syriac Union Party and the Syrian Democratic Council.{{Cite web |author=MFS Media Center |date=7 July 2019 |title=بيان تأسيس المجلس العسكري السرياني الاشوري ، إتحاد MFS و MNK |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-RDapHwhG8 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/A-RDapHwhG8 |archive-date=13 November 2021 |access-date=10 July 2019 |website=Youtube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web |author=SyriacMilitaryMFS |date=8 July 2019 |title=English statement of the formation of Syriac-Assyrian Military Council in Khabour region by Khabour Guards and Syriac Military Council, MFS. |url=https://twitter.com/SyriacMFS/status/1148119968682270720 |access-date=10 July 2019 |website=Twitter}}
• In June & July 2019, ten military councils were formed.{{Cite web |title=The Safe Zone: Local Military Councils to Replace YPG on Syrian-Turkish Borders |url=https://www.npasyria.com/en/blog.php?id_blog=641&sub_blog=10&name_blog=The+Safe+Zone:+Local+Military+Councils+to+Replace+YPG+on+Syrian-Turkish+Borders |website=www.npasyria.com}}{{Cite web |date=23 June 2019 |title=New Syrian military councils are the SDF's latest push for decentralization |url=https://thedefensepost.com/2019/06/23/syria-sdf-military-councils/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904221305/https://thedefensepost.com/2019/06/23/syria-sdf-military-councils/ |archive-date=4 September 2019 |access-date=8 October 2019 |website=The Defense Post}}
• On 9 October 2019, Turkey started bombardment on SDF territory. It followed with an offensive that Turkey called "Operation Peace Spring".{{Cite web |last1=Regan |first1=Helen |last2=Britton |first2=Bianca |date=9 October 2019 |title=Turkey launches offensive in Syria against US-backed militia |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/politics/syria-turkey-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009211522/https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/09/politics/syria-turkey-invasion-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |website=CNN}}{{Cite web |date=9 October 2019 |title=Turkey launches airstrikes on northern Syria after Trump pulls back U.S. troops |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-invades-syria-turkish-president-erdogan-announces-military-operation-today-2019-10-09/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009210301/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-invades-syria-turkish-president-erdogan-announces-military-operation-today-2019-10-09/ |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |website=www.cbsnews.com}} US troops withdrew from the Syrian-Turkish border, leading to international condemnation of the invasion, with only Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries excluding Afghanistan supporting the invasion.{{Cite web |date=10 October 2019 |title=The Latest: Australian PM worried IS may regroup in Syria |url=https://apnews.com/5bf8e9bfa25c45ef9d4dfcef352e26a3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020031454/https://apnews.com/5bf8e9bfa25c45ef9d4dfcef352e26a3 |archive-date=20 October 2019 |access-date=21 October 2019 |website=AP NEWS}}{{Cite web |title=Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on recent developments in north-east Syria – Consilium |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/10/09/declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-eu-on-recent-developments-in-north-east-syria/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009202648/https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/10/09/declaration-by-the-high-representative-on-behalf-of-the-eu-on-recent-developments-in-north-east-syria/ |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |website=www.consilium.europa.eu}}

{{Update section|date=July 2018}}

• On 12 October 2015, the Pentagon confirmed U.S. C-17 transport aircraft dropped 100 pallets with 45 tons of arms and ammunition over SDF-controlled territory in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Polat Can, spokesman of the SDF component militia People's Protection Units (YPG), identified the freight as being "assault rifles, mortars and ammunition, but no TOW anti-tank missiles nor anti-aircraft weapons".{{Cite web |last=Gutman |first=Roy |author-link=Roy Gutman |date=12 October 2015 |title=U.S. begins airdrops of weapons to Kurdish forces in northern Syria |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article38868126.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013115202/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article38868126.html |archive-date=13 October 2015 |access-date=13 October 2015 |publisher=McClatchy}}{{Cite web |date=20 October 2015 |title=Syrian Arab militias dispute they received U.S. airdrop of ammunition |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article40532349.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124065233/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article40532349.html |archive-date=24 November 2015 |access-date=9 November 2015 |publisher=McClatchy DC}} The airdrop came only days after the Pentagon had officially abandoned its failed $500 million train-and-equip program that armed mainstream opposition groups who were also opposed to ISIL.{{Cite web |date=12 October 2015 |title=Syria conflict: US air drop for anti-IS forces in Hassakeh |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34509793 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012174435/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34509793 |archive-date=12 October 2015 |access-date=13 October 2015 |publisher=BBC }}
• During the SDF's February 2016 al-Shaddadi offensive, there were US special forces embedded with the SDF forces who coordinated airstrikes against ISIL with the SDF.{{Cite web |date=22 April 2016 |title=EXCLUSIVE: Interethnic coalition takes on the IS group in Syria |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aftoBdrjm7Q |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428124724/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aftoBdrjm7Q |archive-date=28 April 2016 |access-date=24 April 2016 |website=France 24 (Youtube) }}
• On 17 March 2016, the day after the declaration of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter praised the SDF component militia People's Protection Units (YPG) as having "proven to be excellent partners of ours on the ground in fighting ISIL. We are grateful for that, and we intend to continue to do that, recognizing the complexities of their regional role."{{Cite web |date=18 March 2016 |title=Pentagon chief praises Kurdish fighters in Syria |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pentagon-chief-praises-kurdish-fighters-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=96609&NewsCatID=352 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616220112/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pentagon-chief-praises-kurdish-fighters-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=96609&NewsCatID=352 |archive-date=16 June 2016 |access-date=13 June 2016 |website=Hurriyet Daily News }}
• During the SDF's May 2016 offensive against ISIL in Northern Raqqa, the presence of U.S. Special Forces was widely reported, and several photographs of them wearing badges of the YPG and YPJ on their uniforms circulated.{{Cite news |date=27 May 2016 |title=U.S. Troops 18 Miles from ISIS Capital |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/26/u-s-troops-18-miles-from-isis-capital.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527190948/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/26/u-s-troops-18-miles-from-isis-capital.html |archive-date=27 May 2016 |access-date=27 May 2016 |work=The Daily Beast }}

File:SDF Guardian Armored Personnel Carrier 1.png in February 2017, one of several APCs that were supplied by the United States to the SDF.]]

• On 21 May 2016, General Joseph Votel, commanding general of U.S. Central Command, completed a secret several-hour-long trip to northern Syria to visit several locations where there were U.S. special operations forces and meet with local forces the U.S. was helping train to fight ISIL. The visit came as the first of 250 additional U.S. special operations forces were beginning to arrive in Syria to work with local forces. The commander overseeing the war in Syria, at the end of a long Saturday spent touring SDF bases, said "We do, absolutely, have to go with what we've got".
• During the SDF's summer 2016 Manbij offensive against ISIL, the U.S. Air Force as well as the special operations forces of several Western nations supported the SDF advance. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that besides US special forces, German and French forces were participating.{{Cite web |date=15 June 2016 |title=New details in the German, American and French forces support for The Syria Democratic Forces in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo (SOHR) |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=47609 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220213727/http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=47609 |archive-date=20 December 2016 |access-date=22 August 2016 }} France later confirmed that it had sent its own troops into Syria in an advisory capacity to train the Syrian Democratic Forces to fight against ISIL.
• After two Syrian Air Force SU-24s started air strikes in Al-Hasakah, on 19 August 2016, near where coalition forces were conducting operations on the ground, coalition aircraft arrived and the United States Department of Defense said that "It troubles us when we see regime air strikes in Hasakah in an area where it is well known by everybody, to include the Assad regime, that the coalition is actively engaged in operations against Isis", implicitly recognizing that elite troops are training and supporting the YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces in the area.
• During the late summer 2016 Turkish military intervention in the Syrian Civil War in the Manbij Region, U.S. Special Operations Forces embedded themselves with SDF forces to successfully deter Turkish-backed jihadi rebels from attacking SDF forces south of the Sajur river. Further, the United States Department of Defense confirmed that U.S. Special Operation Forces were flying U.S. flags in the town of Tell Abyad in the Euphrates Region to deter Turkish harassment shelling or attacks against SDF forces there.{{Cite news |date=20 September 2016 |title=Mysterious American Flags In Northern Syria Were Planted By U.S. Troops, Pentagon Says |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-flags-northern-syria_us_57e138efe4b08cb14097dfa0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920215925/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/us-flags-northern-syria_us_57e138efe4b08cb14097dfa0 |archive-date=20 September 2016 |access-date=20 September 2016 |work=Huffington Post }}
• During the SDF's late summer 2016 Western al-Bab offensive against ISIL, the U.S. Air Force provided close combat support for SDF forces.{{Cite news |date=30 August 2016 |title=YPG-led SDF capture 3 villages from ISIS in north Aleppo countryside |url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ypg-capture-3-villages-from-isis-in-north-aleppo-countryside/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915034022/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/ypg-capture-3-villages-from-isis-in-north-aleppo-countryside/ |archive-date=15 September 2016 |access-date=9 September 2016 |agency=Al-Masdar News }}
• In late September 2016, the U.S. spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) confirmed that the SDF, including the YPG, is also part of the "vetted forces" in the train and equip program and will be supplied with weapons. The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, condemned this and stated that the SDF are "endangering our future".{{Cite news |date=25 September 2016 |title=US sending arms to Kurdish-led SDF in Syria, Turkey's Erdogan outraged |url=http://aranews.net/2016/09/us-sending-arms-kurdish-led-sdf-syria-turkeys-erdogan-outraged/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031120226/http://aranews.net/2016/09/us-sending-arms-kurdish-led-sdf-syria-turkeys-erdogan-outraged/ |archive-date=31 October 2016 |agency=ARA News }}
• Early October 2016, media reports highlighted construction work on another military airfield in SDF controlled territory for operations of U.S. air assets, in the vicinity of al-Shaddadah in the Jazira Region,{{Cite news |date=5 October 2016 |title=US Military Builds a New Air Base in Northern Syria |url=https://aviationvoice.com/us-military-builds-a-new-air-base-in-northern-syria-201610051220/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009120937/https://aviationvoice.com/us-military-builds-a-new-air-base-in-northern-syria-201610051220/ |archive-date=9 October 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016 |publisher=Aviation Voice }}{{Cite news |date=5 October 2016 |title=US Military Builds a New Air Base in Oil-Rich Region North of Syria |url=http://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13950714000772 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005195705/http://en.farsnews.ir/newstext.aspx?nn=13950714000772 |archive-date=5 October 2016 |access-date=5 October 2016 |publisher=Farsnews }} in addition to the two airfields the U.S. is widely reported to already co-operate there: Abu Hajar Airport in Rmelan in the Jazira Region and one airfield at the village of Septe south of Kobanî in the Euphrates Region.{{Cite news |date=6 March 2016 |title=U.S. builds two air bases in Kurdish-controlled north Syria: Kurdish report |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-base-idUSKCN0W80R7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009124220/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-base-idUSKCN0W80R7 |archive-date=9 October 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016 |publisher=Reuters }}{{Cite news |date=4 February 2016 |title=US Confirms Involvement in Syria Airfield Expansion |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/us-confirms-involvement-in-syria-airport-expansion/3176116.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009115315/http://www.voanews.com/a/us-confirms-involvement-in-syria-airport-expansion/3176116.html |archive-date=9 October 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016 |publisher=Voice of America }}{{Cite news |date=3 February 2016 |title=Inside Syria: The farm airstrip that's part of the U.S. fight against ISIS |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/02/middleeast/syria-isis-us-airstrip/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009143533/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/02/middleeast/syria-isis-us-airstrip/ |archive-date=9 October 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016 |publisher=CNN }}{{Cite news |date=21 January 2016 |title=U.S. troops take over air base in Syria, local reports say |url=http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/01/21/us-troops-take-over-airbase-syria-local-reports-say/79115490/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009124743/http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/01/21/us-troops-take-over-airbase-syria-local-reports-say/79115490/ |archive-date=9 October 2016 |access-date=6 October 2016 |work=Military Times }}

File:US armoured vehicles pass through Qamishli.ogg Stryker armoured vehicles drive through Qamishli and head to the Syria–Turkey border after Turkish–YPG April 2017 border clashes.]]

• In late October 2016, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commander of the international coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, said that the SDF would lead the impending assault on Raqqa, ISIL's stronghold and capital, and that SDF commanders would plan the operation with advice from American and coalition troops.{{Cite news |date=26 October 2016 |title=US general: Syrian Democratic Forces will lead the assault on Raqqa |url=http://www.stripes.com/news/us-general-syrian-democratic-forces-will-lead-the-assault-on-raqqa-1.435953 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101043408/http://www.stripes.com/news/us-general-syrian-democratic-forces-will-lead-the-assault-on-raqqa-1.435953 |archive-date=1 November 2016 |access-date=31 October 2016 |publisher=Stars and Stripes }} From November, more than 300 U.S. Special Operations Forces were embedded to train and advise SDF fighters in the Raqqa offensive.{{Cite news |date=24 November 2016 |title=American Is Killed in First Casualty for U.S. Forces in Syria Combat |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/24/world/middleeast/syria-warplanes-turkey.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930222705/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/24/world/middleeast/syria-warplanes-turkey.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3 |archive-date=30 September 2017 |access-date=3 March 2017 |work=The New York Times }}
• In January 2017, the European Syriac Union in Brussels requested the US to provide more support for the Assyrian and Kurdish components of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The US reportedly favoured the Arab components in the SDF,{{Cite web |date=22 January 2017 |title=ESU: URGENT APPEAL AFTER MANY CHRISTIANS FELL IN THE STRUGGLE TO LIBERATE RAQQA |url=http://www.syriacsnews.com/esu-urgent-appeal-many-christians-fell-struggle-liberate-raqqa/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406024231/http://www.syriacsnews.com/esu-urgent-appeal-many-christians-fell-struggle-liberate-raqqa/ |archive-date=6 April 2017 |access-date=5 April 2017 |website=European Syriac Union }} in April the MFS and the HSNB reaffirming the request for more support from the US.{{Cite web |date=3 April 2017 |title=MFS: WE ASK THE US FOR EQUAL SUPPORT AS IS GIVEN TO THE ARABS |url=http://www.syriacsnews.com/mfs-ask-us-equal-support-given-arabs/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406024229/http://www.syriacsnews.com/mfs-ask-us-equal-support-given-arabs/ |archive-date=6 April 2017 |access-date=5 April 2017 |website=Syriac Military Council }}
• In late January 2017, the SDF received a number of armoured personnel carriers produced by ArmorGroup and supplied by the US.{{Cite web |date=31 January 2017 |title=Kurd-led Syrian militia says Trump sent it armoured vehicles |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurd-led-syrian-militia-claims-trump-government-sent-armoured-vehicles-1743395167 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131163300/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/kurd-led-syrian-militia-claims-trump-government-sent-armoured-vehicles-1743395167 |archive-date=31 January 2017 |access-date=1 February 2017 |website=Middle East Eye }}
• In February 2017, Stephen Townsend visited Kobanî. On 25 February, the US Central Command stated that it would continue to train and equip forces of the Manbij Military Council.{{Cite web |date=25 February 2017 |title=US military displays SDF support, while Turkey calls for YPG to leave Manbij |url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/25022017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228171910/http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/25022017 |archive-date=28 February 2017 |access-date=28 February 2017 |website=Rudaw }} During the East Aleppo offensive (February–March 2017), the US deployed troops and armored vehicles to villages near Manbij in an attempt to "deter" the skirmishes between the SDF and Turkey-backed forces west and north of Manbij.{{Cite web |last=Babb |first=Carla |date=6 March 2017 |title=US Troops in Manbij to 'Deter' Skirmishes Between Turks, Kurds |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/us-troops-in-manbij-to-deter-skirmishes-between-turks-kurds/3752065.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307004911/http://www.voanews.com/a/us-troops-in-manbij-to-deter-skirmishes-between-turks-kurds/3752065.html |archive-date=7 March 2017 |access-date=7 March 2017 |publisher=VOA News }}
• In late March 2017, the US delivered 30 more Guardian armoured vehicles to the SDF for use in the Raqqa offensive.{{Cite news |author=Wladimir van Wilgenburg |date=1 April 2017 |title=US provides 30 vehicles to SDF-linked Arab forces as fight for Raqqa escalates |url=http://aranews.net/2017/04/us-provides-30-vehicles-to-sdf-linked-arab-forces-as-fight-for-raqqa-escalates/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170401014726/http://aranews.net/2017/04/us-provides-30-vehicles-to-sdf-linked-arab-forces-as-fight-for-raqqa-escalates/ |archive-date=1 April 2017 |access-date=1 April 2017 |agency=ARA News }}
• In late April 2017, the U.S. just as in the summer 2016 once again deployed U.S. troops embedded with the SDF to the border between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria/Syria and Turkey, in order to deter Turkish aggressions against the SDF, which this time coincided with the SDF's breakthrough advances against ISIL in the Raqqa campaign.{{Cite web |date=1 May 2017 |title=Ever-closer ties between US and Kurds stoke Turkish border tensions |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/01/tensions-rise-along-the-turkey-syria-border-pkk-ypg-erdogan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501093210/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/01/tensions-rise-along-the-turkey-syria-border-pkk-ypg-erdogan |archive-date=1 May 2017 |access-date=1 May 2017 |website=The Guardian }}{{Cite web |date=2 May 2017 |title=Kurdish citizens 'rest easy' after American military patrols parade through cities in northern Syria |url=http://syriadirect.org/news/kurdish-citizens-%E2%80%98rest-easy%E2%80%99-after-american-military-patrols-parade-through-cities-in-northern-syria/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170502210458/http://syriadirect.org/news/kurdish-citizens-%e2%80%98rest-easy%e2%80%99-after-american-military-patrols-parade-through-cities-in-northern-syria/ |archive-date=2 May 2017 |access-date=3 May 2017 |website=syriadirect.org }}

File:Raqqa Syrian Democratic Forces 1.jpg against ISIL with a portrait of PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan in the background, mid-October 2017]]

• On 9 May 2017, it was announced by the Pentagon that U.S. president Donald Trump approved of a plan that would have the United States directly provide heavy armaments to the major SDF component group, the YPG; the plan comes before a planned final offensive to capture Raqqa from ISIL.{{Cite news |date=9 May 2017 |title=Trump to Arm Syrian Kurds, Even as Turkey Strongly Objects |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-kurds-syria-army.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510000916/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-kurds-syria-army.html |archive-date=10 May 2017 |access-date=9 May 2017 |work=The New York Times }}{{Cite news |date=9 May 2017 |title=In blow to U.S.-Turkey ties, Trump administration approves plan to arm Syrian Kurds against Islamic State |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/05/09/in-blow-to-u-s-turkey-ties-trump-administration-approves-plan-to-directly-arm-syrian-kurds-against-islamic-state/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509200720/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/05/09/in-blow-to-u-s-turkey-ties-trump-administration-approves-plan-to-directly-arm-syrian-kurds-against-islamic-state/ |archive-date=9 May 2017 |access-date=9 May 2017 |newspaper=Washington Post }}{{Cite web |date=9 May 2017 |title=Trump OKs arms for Syrian Kurds, despite Turkish objections |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-oks-arms-syrian-kurds-turkish-objections-47304210 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509185346/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/trump-oks-arms-syrian-kurds-turkish-objections-47304210 |archive-date=9 May 2017 |website=ABC News }}
• By July 2017, more than 8,500 members of the SDF have been trained by the US-led coalition and in the first half of 2017, more than 400 vehicles and other equipment have been delivered to over 40,000 SDF troops.{{Cite news |author=Wladimir van Wilgenburg |date=9 July 2017 |title=8,500 SDF fighters trained by US-led coalition to combat ISIS, equipment delivered for 40,000 troops in Syria: official |url=http://aranews.net/2017/07/8500-sdf-fighters-trained-us-led-coalition-combat-isis-equipment-delivered-40000-troops-syria-official/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711095327/http://aranews.net/2017/07/8500-sdf-fighters-trained-us-led-coalition-combat-isis-equipment-delivered-40000-troops-syria-official/ |archive-date=11 July 2017 |access-date=9 July 2017 |agency=ARA News }}
• According to a report from the Kurdish news network Kurdistan 24, the major SDF component group, YPG forces, received about 800 truckloads of military supplies from the Pentagon from early June to the end of July 2017.{{Cite web |title=U.S. delivered 809 trucks of weapons to YPG in two months – Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria – Syria news – syria.liveuamap.com |url=https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2017/1-august-us-delivered-809-trucks-of-weapons-to-ypg-in-two |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001030957/https://syria.liveuamap.com/en/2017/1-august-us-delivered-809-trucks-of-weapons-to-ypg-in-two |archive-date=1 October 2017 |access-date=30 September 2017 |website=Map of Syrian Civil war/ Global conflict in Syria – Syria news – syria.liveuamap.com }}{{Cite web |last=Sulaivany |first=Karzan |title=US sends over 100 more truckloads of weapons to YPG: report |url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/9c38e794-b4ef-4727-8c82-f01e20334815 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001031020/http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/9c38e794-b4ef-4727-8c82-f01e20334815 |archive-date=1 October 2017 |access-date=30 September 2017 |website=Kurdistan24 }}
• In a joint report published on 12 September 2017, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) reported that the Pentagon had so far delivered up to $2.2 billion worth of weapons to the Syrian Democratic Forces.{{Cite web |date=12 September 2017 |title=The Pentagon Is Spending $2 Billion Running Soviet-Era Guns to Syrian Rebels |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/12/the-pentagon-is-spending-2-billion-running-soviet-era-guns-to-syrian-rebels/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001074449/http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/12/the-pentagon-is-spending-2-billion-running-soviet-era-guns-to-syrian-rebels/ |archive-date=1 October 2017 |access-date=30 September 2017 |website=Foreign Policy }}{{Cite news |last1=Angelovski |first1=Ivan |last2=Marzouk |first2=Lawrence |title=Revealed: The Pentagon Is Spending Up To $2.2 Billion on Soviet-Style Arms for Syrian Rebels – OCCRP |url=https://www.occrp.org/en/makingakilling/the-pentagon-is-spending-2-billion-on-soviet-style-arms-for-syrian-rebels |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928042038/https://www.occrp.org/en/makingakilling/the-pentagon-is-spending-2-billion-on-soviet-style-arms-for-syrian-rebels |archive-date=28 September 2017 |access-date=30 September 2017 |publisher=OCCRP }}
• In late November 2017, Turkish officials stated that Trump told Erdoğan during their 24 November phone conversation that the U.S. would end arms supplies to the SDF. Erdoğan said: "For the first time in a long while, a common wavelength was reached."{{Cite news |title=Erdogan says he reached same 'wavelength' with Trump in call |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/erdogan-reached-wavelength-trump-call-51426970 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128191036/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/erdogan-reached-wavelength-trump-call-51426970 |archive-date=28 November 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |work=ABC News }} But Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied on 28 November that there was a halt in the Washington armament, saying they were provided with weapons by the U.S. the day before.{{Cite web |title=US armament of anti-ISIS Syrian Kurdish continue, says SDF official |url=http://www.nrttv.com/en/Details.aspx?Jimare=17689 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130135448/http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=17689 |archive-date=30 November 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |website=NRT}} Kurdish officials also said on 27 November that the United States would only "adjust" its delivery of weapons to the SDF. U.S. officials also stated that they would continue to work with their Kurdish and Arab partners of SDF but will only review and adjust its delivery of weapons which is being done regularly.{{Cite news |date=28 November 2017 |title='Many more' US troops in Syria and Iraq |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42151782 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702003836/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42151782 |archive-date=2 July 2018 |access-date=29 November 2017 |work=BBC News }} The International Coalition also confirmed its support for SDF is ongoing.{{Cite news |title=US to keep supporting SDF, including Kurds, in Syria |url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/US-to-keep-supporting-SDF-including-Kurds-in-Syria-515260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129030719/http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/US-to-keep-supporting-SDF-including-Kurds-in-Syria-515260 |archive-date=29 November 2017 |access-date=29 November 2017 |work=The Jerusalem Post }}
• On 12 February 2018, the United States Department of Defense released a budget blueprint for 2019 which with respect to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, including $300 million for the SDF and $250 million for border security.{{Cite news |date=12 February 2018 |title=Pentagon budget retains same troop levels in Iraq, Syria |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/pentagon-budget-troop-levels-iraq-syria.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213231319/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/02/pentagon-budget-troop-levels-iraq-syria.html |archive-date=13 February 2018 |access-date=13 February 2018 |publisher=Al-Monitor }}
• On 29 March 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to send troops to Syria's Manbij in a bid to assist local SDF militias in preventing Turkish forces from advancing on the town.{{Cite news |date=29 March 2018 |title=Syrie : Emmanuel Macron annonce l'envoi de soldats au secours des Kurdes |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/international/afrin-emmanuel-macron-recoit-une-delegation-du-rojava-29-03-2018-7636626.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180329214238/http://www.leparisien.fr/international/afrin-emmanuel-macron-recoit-une-delegation-du-rojava-29-03-2018-7636626.php |archive-date=29 March 2018 |access-date=29 March 2018 |work=Le Parisien |language=fr }}

File:DVIDS - Video - Coalition Soldiers Train SDF Commandos on Stress-Fire.webm coalition train SDF members in live stress-fire, mid-July 2019]]

• In December 2018, U.S. Kurdish allies in Syria discussed the release of 3,200 ISIS prisoners, a prominent monitoring group and a Western official of the anti-Islamic State coalition said, a day after President Trump ordered the withdrawal of all American troops from the country. The SDF denied that such talks have taken place.{{Cite news |last1=Saad |first1=Hwaida |author-link1=Hwaida Saad |last2=Nordland |first2=Rod |date=20 December 2018 |title=Kurdish Fighters Discuss Releasing Almost 3,200 ISIS Prisoners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/world/middleeast/isis-syria-prisoner-release-trump.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702220926/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/world/middleeast/isis-syria-prisoner-release-trump.html |archive-date=2 July 2019 |access-date=15 October 2019 |work=The New York Times}}
• On 7 October 2019, in preparation for the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw its troops that had been cooperating with the SDF and were stationed just south of the border with Turkey.{{Cite web |date=7 October 2019 |title=U.S. Troops begin pulling out of Syria, leaving Kurds without support |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-troops-begin-pulling-out-of-syria-leaving-kurds-without-support |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009004543/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-troops-begin-pulling-out-of-syria-leaving-kurds-without-support |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |website=PBS}} This led to fears of a possible re-emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant due to SDF-controlled ISIS prisons{{Cite web |last=Giglio |first=Mike |date=7 October 2019 |title=Trump's Gift to ISIS |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/how-isis-returns/599581/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009004757/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/how-isis-returns/599581/ |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |website=The Atlantic}}{{Cite news |last1=Schmitt |first1=Eric |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |last3=Wong |first3=Edward |date=7 October 2019 |title=President Endorses Turkish Military Operation in Syria, Shifting U.S. Policy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/trump-turkey-syria.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009010758/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/trump-turkey-syria.html |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |work=The New York Times}} and possible restoration of fighting in the Syrian civil war,{{Cite web |title=The Syrian Conflict Is About to Intensify |url=https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/syrian-conflict-about-intensify |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009004546/https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/syrian-conflict-about-intensify |archive-date=9 October 2019 |access-date=9 October 2019 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}} in contrast to the limited level of fighting at the time.{{Cite book |url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/syria |title=World Report 2019: Rights Trends in Syria |date=17 December 2018 |chapter=Syria: Events of 2018 |access-date=9 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031220356/https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/syria |archive-date=31 October 2019 |url-status=live}}
• On 21 October 2019, while the Turkish offensive was still ongoing, President Trump announced that US troops would remain in Syria.{{Cite news |author=Kareem Fahim |author2=Karen DeYoung |author3=Susannah George |date=21 October 2019 |title=Trump says a limited number of troops will remain in Syria after ordering a complete withdrawal |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-discussing-proposal-to-leave-troops-around-syrias-oil-fields-pentagon-says/2019/10/21/0b024d4c-f401-11e9-8cf0-4cc99f74d127_story.html |access-date=10 December 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Earlier, on 5 March 2019, Trump had stated that US troops would not leave Syria.{{Cite web |last=Kube |first=Courtney |date=5 March 2019 |title=Trump says he agrees '100%' with keeping U.S. troops in Syria |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-says-he-agrees-100-percent-keeping-u-s-troops-n979466 |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=NBC News}}
• As of 2023 the U.S. military and international coalition remain in Northeast Syria partnered with the SDF.{{Cite web |last=Biden |first=Joseph R. |date=8 June 2023 |title=Letter to the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate on War Powers Report |url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/06/08/letter-to-the-speaker-of-the-house-and-president-pro-tempore-of-the-senate-on-war-powers-report/ |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=WH.GOV}}{{Cite web |date=9 November 2023 |title=OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE AND OTHER U.S. GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES RELATED TO IRAQ & SYRIA |url=https://media.defense.gov/2023/Nov/27/2003347442/-1/-1/1/OIR_Q4_SEP2023_FINAL_508.PDF |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=media.defense.gov}}
• The U.S. Department of Defense annually provides the SDF hundreds of millions of dollars in weapons, equipment, training and stipends.{{Cite web |date=April 2022 |title=Justification for FY 2023 Overseas Operations COUNTER-ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA (ISIS) TRAIN AND EQUIP FUND (CTEF) |url=https://www.asafm.army.mil/Portals/72/Documents/BudgetMaterial/2023/Base%20Budget/Other%20Funds/CTEF.pdf |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=asafm.army.mil}}{{Cite web |date=March 2023 |title=Justification for FY 2024 COUNTER ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA (ISIS) TRAIN AND EQUIP FUND (CTEF) |url=https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2024/FY2024_CTEF_J-Book.pdf |access-date=10 December 2023 |website=asafm.army.mil}}
• Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Kurdish-controlled city of Manbij in northern Syria, near the border with Turkey, after reaching a ceasefire agreement through US mediation. However, SDF fighters continued their “resistance” in the city.{{Cite web |author1=Antoinette Radford |author2=Jessie Yeung |author3=Irene Nasser |author4=Sana Noor Haq |date=11 December 2024 |title=Syrians celebrate fall of Assad as Israel strikes nearly 500 targets: Live updates |url=https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/syria-israel-assad-war-russia-intl-hnk-12-11-24/index.html |access-date=11 December 2024 |website=CNN |language=en}} The Kurds control much of Syria’s northeast under an autonomous civil administration. About 900 U.S. troops are deployed to Syria to support the Kurdish forces.{{Cite news |date=9 December 2024 |title=With Syria in Flux, Turkey Attacks U.S.-Backed Forces |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/world/middleeast/syria-turkey-kurds.html |access-date=11 December 2024 |language=en |last1=Sampson |first1=Eve }} On 8 December, the United States announced it had conducted one of the largest strikes against Islamic State targets in months. According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the main priority is protecting American troops and preventing the resurgence of ISIS. The SDF was not part of the initial deal to consolidate rebel forces after the fall of Assad.{{cite web | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/24/syria-says-ex-rebel-groups-agree-to-integrate-under-defence-ministry | title=Syria says ex-rebel groups agree to integrate under Defence Ministry }}

• In November 2015, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa merged with the Tribal Army to form Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa to become part of the SDF. After some tensions between the group and the People's Protection Units (YPG), on 6 January 2016 the group reportedly issued a statement stating it was disbanding.{{Cite web |date=6 January 2016 |title=Tribes' Army disbands in north amidst accusations of YPG blockade |url=http://syriadirect.org/news/tribes%E2%80%99-army-disbands-in-north-amidst-accusations-of-ypg-blockade/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161119163548/http://syriadirect.org/news/tribes%E2%80%99-army-disbands-in-north-amidst-accusations-of-ypg-blockade/ |archive-date=19 November 2016 |access-date=4 December 2016 |publisher=Syria Direct }} Later the same month, some sources stated that the Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa reappeared, announcing it had decided to rejoin the SDF.{{Cite news |title=Ultimele stiri si informatii despre Liwa Thuwwar Al Raqqa |url=http://www.disperat.ro/news/Liwa-Thuwwar-al-Raqqa.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215203217/http://www.disperat.ro/news/Liwa-Thuwwar-al-Raqqa.html |archive-date=15 February 2016 |access-date=17 January 2016 |work=disperat.ro }}
• Turkey has at various times tried and failed to incite tensions along ethnic lines within the SDF. At the height of one such attempts after the start of the summer 2016 Manbij offensive, Sheikh Farouk al-Mashi, an ethnic Arab former member of the Syrian parliament and designated co-chairman of the Manbij City Council, stated: "I have a Syrian ID, and Kurds have a Syrian ID. Let those people who talk against us in Turkey and Europe come here and fight ISIS. Why this distortion in media about problems between Kurds and Arabs?" Ethnic Kurdish fellow co-chairman Salih Haji Mohammed stated: "In our social contract, we say we want to have good relations with neighboring countries like Turkey. Any country that does not interfere in Manbij and our areas, we will have good relations with."{{Cite news |date=5 June 2016 |title=On the Front Line in the Bloody Fight to Take Manbij From ISIS |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/05/on-the-front-line-in-the-bloody-fight-to-take-manbij-from-isis.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606124835/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/06/05/on-the-front-line-in-the-bloody-fight-to-take-manbij-from-isis.html |archive-date=6 June 2016 |access-date=6 June 2016 |work=The Daily Beast }} A fighter gave his perspective as "we have Arabs, Kurds, nobody knows how many exactly, we all work under the SDF-forces".{{Cite news |date=5 June 2016 |title=SDF-led Manbij Military Council cuts off ISIS supply route between Raqqa and Manbij |url=http://aranews.net/2016/06/sdf-linked-manbij-military-council-cuts-off-isis-supply-route-raqqa-manbij/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606122340/http://aranews.net/2016/06/sdf-linked-manbij-military-council-cuts-off-isis-supply-route-raqqa-manbij/ |archive-date=6 June 2016 |access-date=5 June 2016 |publisher=Ara News }}
• In September 2016, during the Turkish military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, the leader of small SDF component group Liwa al-Tahrir, Abdul Karim Obeid, defected to the camp of Turkish-backed rebels with 20 to 100 of his men, citing opposition to reported YPG domination of the SDF, while SDF sources suggested he was displeased with the civil administration of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria replacing warlordist political rule in the Free Syrian Army style. The remaining fighters stayed with the SDF.
• Also, in September 2016, during the Turkish military intervention, some Arab sources reported that Liwa Ahrar al-Raqqa clashed with the YPG,{{Cite web |title=Liberation Brigade defected in Jarabulus |url=http://www.baladi-news.com/ar/news/details/9855/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1_%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%84_%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%87_%D8%B9%D9%86_%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%AF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905163100/http://baladi-news.com/ar/news/details/9855/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1_%D9%8A%D8%B5%D9%84_%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF_%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%82%D9%87_%D8%B9%D9%86_%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%AF |archive-date=5 September 2016 |access-date=2 September 2016 |website=Baladi News }} however two days later the Liwa Ahrar al-Raqqa's commander said that news about the clashes and defections were false, he denied that such clashes had ever happened.{{Cite web |date=3 September 2016 |title=Free Raqqa Brigade denies split with the Syrian Democratic Forces |url=http://www.dw.com/ar/%D9%86%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9/a-19524368 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160903161652/http://www.dw.com/ar/%D9%86%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%A9/a-19524368 |archive-date=3 September 2016 |access-date=3 September 2016 |website=DW }}
• In mid-November 2016, Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa's political bureau, which has strong connections with Turkey, condemned the SDF's Raqqa offensive led by the YPG. This caused tensions between the group's political bureau, who opposes the YPG, and the overall leader and military commander of Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa, Abu Issa, who is allied with the YPG. Some members of Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa left the group and joined the SDF's Liwa Ahrar al-Raqqa, in response to the tensions.
• Infighting occurred between two SDF groups during the Raqqa campaign in December 2016, as several Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa military commanders were captured by and forced to announce their defection to the Raqqa Hawks Brigade. These commanders later announced in a video that they remained loyal to Thuwar al-Raqqa.{{Cite web |date=27 December 2016 |title="Intentionally" fights Arab allies .. and "revolutionaries tenderness" reveal planned |url=http://www.baladi-news.com/ar/news/details/14265/%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%AF_%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8_%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A1%D9%87%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8_%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9_%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%B7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228091440/http://baladi-news.com/ar/news/details/14265/%D9%82%D8%B3%D8%AF_%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8_%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A1%D9%87%D8%A7_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8_%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9_%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81%D9%88%D9%86_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%B7 |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=28 December 2016 |website=Baladi News }}
• On 20 February 2017, one sub-commander of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade, Abu Yamen al-Meko, who reportedly had strong links to the Military Intelligence Directorate, declared his loyalty to Bashar al-Assad and formed the pro-government unit "Tajamou al-Shamal". His followers consequently raised the Ba'athist flag at their headquarters in the village of al-Fares. These actions, however, provoked the ire of Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa, which launched a surprise attack on al-Fares two days later and destroyed al-Meko's faction, killing or capturing its members. Jabhat Thuwar al-Raqqa went on to declare that it "would never allow the regime and its supporting militia to re-enter the city [of Raqqa] by any means".{{Cite web |date=23 February 2017 |title="Thwar al-Raqqa" Brigade Attacks the pro-Assad regime "Tajamou' al-Shamal" north of #Raqqa |url=http://en.eldorar.com/node/4872 |access-date=13 March 2017 |website=El-Dorar Al-Shamia}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web |date=23 February 2017 |title=#Syria – Raqqa – Thuwar Raqqa faction assaults a pro–Assad faction |url=https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/syriaraqqathuwar-raqqa-faction-assaults-a-pro-assad-faction/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314151947/https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/syriaraqqathuwar-raqqa-faction-assaults-a-pro-assad-faction/ |archive-date=14 March 2017 |access-date=13 March 2017 |website=Yallasouriya }}
• On 26 August 2017, the YPG raided the headquarters of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade and captured Fayyad al-Ghanim, who led one of the group's factions. He was accused of coordinating with Syrian government forces but later escaped to regime-held areas.{{cite web |date=27 August 2017 |title=YPG Participates a US-Led Crackdown to arrest leaders of Soqour al-Raqqa Brigade |url=http://www.aldorars.com/en/news/1297 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031163502/http://www.aldorars.com/en/news/1297 |archive-date=31 October 2017 |access-date=15 December 2024 |work=Al-Dorar al-Shamia}}
• On 28 September 2017, Yasser al-Dahla, commander of the Gathering of al-Baggara Youth, part of the SDF's Deir ez-Zor Military Council, was arrested by SDF military police, which said Dahla was effectively participating in the SDF's Deir ez-Zor offensive and the "lack of military discipline". The Gathering of al-Baggara Youth denied these charges, and said the Deir ez-Zor Military Council was denying Euphrates Shield fighters who defected to the SDF to join the Gathering. Dahla reportedly threatened to cease his group's participation in the Deir ez-Zor offensive.{{Cite web |date=2 October 2017 |title=Military police of SDF arrest leader of al-Bakkara Youth Gathering Yasser al-Dahla, the defected of Syrian Elite Forces |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=75395 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002171131/http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=75395 |archive-date=2 October 2017 |access-date=2 October 2017 |website=Syrian Observatory for Human Rights }}
• On 15 November 2017, Talal Silo, who held the rank of brigadier general, surrendered or defected to the Turkish Army. His reasons for leaving the SDF are unclear.
• On 20 December 2017, Hussam Awak, another brigadier general, announced his resignation from the SDF on his Facebook page without providing any reasons.
• In May 2018, tensions began to build up between members of Arab tribes, including Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa (formerly Jahbat Thuwar al-Raqqa), and the rest of the SDF and the Raqqa Internal Security Forces over recruitment issues in Raqqa. A curfew was put in place in both Raqqa city and the rest of the governorate on 23 June, as the SDF and RISF besieged Thuwar al-Raqqa's headquarters and arrested between 90{{Cite web |date=24 June 2018 |title=SDF forces impose curfew in Syria's Raqqa, citing instability, Islamic State attacks |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sdf-forces-impose-curfew-syria-s-raqqa-citing-instability-islamic-state-attacks-873502097 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624213857/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sdf-forces-impose-curfew-syria-s-raqqa-citing-instability-islamic-state-attacks-873502097 |archive-date=24 June 2018 |access-date=25 June 2018 |publisher=Middle East Eye }} and 200 of its members the next day.{{Cite web |date=25 June 2018 |title=Raqqa city on lockdown as US-backed forces clash with local Arab faction |url=http://syriadirect.org/news/raqqa-city-on-lockdown-as-us-backed-forces-clash-with-local-arab-faction/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706090720/http://syriadirect.org/news/raqqa-city-on-lockdown-as-us-backed-forces-clash-with-local-arab-faction/ |archive-date=6 July 2018 |access-date=8 July 2018 |website=Syria Direct }} By 25 June, the SDF and RISF captured all of Thuwar al-Raqqa fighters and their weapons in Raqqa, completely defeating the group, and the curfew was ended.{{Cite web |date=25 June 2018 |title=Internal Security ended emergency state |url=http://hawarnews.com/en/haber/internal-security-ended-emergency-state-h2171.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630080856/http://hawarnews.com/en/haber/internal-security-ended-emergency-state-h2171.html |archive-date=30 June 2018 |access-date=8 July 2018 |website=Hawar News Agency }} Following Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa's defeat by the SDF and RISF, Abu Issa met with tribal leaders and SDF officials to discuss surrender and reconciliation. He was reportedly offered a position in the SDF general command.{{Cite web |date=27 June 2018 |title=Brigade of Raqqa Revolutionaries to where ... New and exclusive details |url=https://raqqa-rwb.net/archives/739/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%88/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630104946/https://raqqa-rwb.net/archives/739/%D9%84%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%88/ |archive-date=30 June 2018 |access-date=8 July 2018 |website=Reporters Without Borders in Raqqa }} Abu Issa would later go on to deny he was ever arrested by the SDF or the RISF.{{Cite web |date=6 July 2018 |title=قائد فصيل ثوار الرقة ينفي اعتقاله على يد قوات سوريا الديمقراطية |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpuPypKj5i0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/jpuPypKj5i0 |archive-date=13 November 2021 |access-date=26 March 2019 |publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
• On 27 August 2023, the SDF arrested Ahmad Al Khubail, also known as Abu Khawla, who headed its Deir al Zor Council. This led to widespread unrest by various Arab tribal clans, fueled by poor living conditions and perceived favouritism towards the Kurdish population by the SDF. Tens of civilians and fighters died in the resulting fighting.
• On 7 August 2024, a Syrian Arab tribal coalition backed by Iran and the Syrian government launched an offensive against SDF positions in the Deir ez-Zor countryside,{{Cite news |last=Al Abdo |first=Hogir |title=Pro-government fighters attack areas of US-backed fighters in east Syria; 2 killed |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/07/syria-sdf-iran-deir-el-zour-tribes/0c808de8-549e-11ef-9a60-5b6e8b4da7c0_story.html |access-date=8 August 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |agency=AP}} briefly capturing a number of villages on the eastern side of the Euphrates river before being pushed back.{{Cite news |last=Ali |first=Salam |title=As Arab forces attack the SDF in Deir e-Zor, Iran pulls the strings |url=https://syriadirect.org/arab-forces-attack-the-sdf-in-deir-e-zor-iran-pulls-the-strings/ |access-date=8 August 2024 |agency=Syria Direct}}

{{main|Syrian caretaker government|Syrian transitional government}}

After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Abdi met with Syrian transitional president Ahmed al-Sharaa on 10 March 2025. Mazloum announced that the SDF agreed that it will integrate into state institutions.{{cite news|title= Kurdish-led SDF agrees to integrate with Syrian government forces |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cedlx0511w7o|website=BBC News|access-date=11 March 2025}} However, on 29 March, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria also said it will not adhere to the decisions of the newly-formed transitional government, alleging that its composition allowed a single faction to maintain control and did not represent the diversity of Syria.{{Cite web |title=Rojava says won't implement decisions of new 'exclusionary' government in Syria |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/300320253 |access-date=30 March 2025 |website=Rudaw}}

{{See also|Human rights in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria#DFNS-associated militias|People's Protection Units#Allegations concerning violations of international law}}

On 15 March 2017, a video surfaced that showed members of the Northern Sun Battalion reportedly torturing an ISIL fighter, who had been captured while planting mines. One of these mines had reportedly killed nine fighters of the battalion, leading five others to take revenge on the ISIL militant. The Manbij Military Council condemned the act, and announced that the involved Northern Sun Battalion fighters would be held for trial for violating the Geneva Conventions.{{Cite web |date=16 March 2017 |title=Statement by Manbij Military Council (March 16, 2017) |url=https://www.ypgrojava.org/Statement-by-Manbij-Military-Council-%28March-16%2C-2017%29 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422190532/https://www.ypgrojava.org/Statement-by-Manbij-Military-Council-%28March-16%2C-2017%29 |archive-date=22 April 2017 |access-date=5 June 2017 |publisher=YPG Rojava }}{{Cite web |date=16 March 2017 |title=Manbij Military Council on torture allegations: We are committed to laws of war |url=http://en.hawarnews.com/anbij-military-council-on-torture-allegations-we-are-committed-to-laws-of-war/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623230116/http://en.hawarnews.com/anbij-military-council-on-torture-allegations-we-are-committed-to-laws-of-war/ |archive-date=23 June 2017 |access-date=5 June 2017 |website=Hawar News Agency }} The five accused were arrested on 17 March.{{Cite news |author=Wladimir van Wilgenburg |date=18 March 2017 |title=Five SDF members arrested for torturing ISIS militant |url=http://aranews.net/2017/03/five-sdf-members-arrested-torturing-isis-militant/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518132534/http://aranews.net/2017/03/five-sdf-members-arrested-torturing-isis-militant/ |archive-date=18 May 2017 |access-date=5 June 2017 |agency=ARA News }}

On 24 April 2024, Amnesty International reported that there has been large-scale human rights violations of more than 56,000 people including 30,000 children and 14,500 women held indefinitely in at least 27 detention facilities for those with "perceived IS affiliation". According to the report among those held in this detention system are hundreds of Yazidis, Syrians, Iraqis, and foreign citizens from nearly 74 other countries. The report described the trials as "flawed", and many of the people in these camps were detained without charges. Detainees are held in inhumane conditions and subjected to torture including severe beatings, stress positions, and electric shocks with thousands having been forcibly disappeared. Women were also subjected to sexual and gender based violence by SDF security members as well as attacks by other prisoners for perceived "moral" infractions. Amnesty International's secretary general Agnès Callamard has accused the US government of playing a central role in the creation and maintenance of this system.{{Cite web |date=17 April 2024 |title=Syria: Mass death, torture and other violations against people detained in aftermath of Islamic State defeat – new report |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/syria-mass-death-torture-and-other-violations-against-people-detained-in-aftermath-of-islamic-state-defeat-new-report/ |access-date=25 May 2024 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) found that the SDF was responsible for the deaths of 274 children and 859 children were forcibly removed or forcibly disappeared by SDF in its annual report on violations against children in 2024. It was also reported that the SDF had attacked 48 schools and kindergartens and 12 health institutions.{{Cite web |date=20 November 2024 |title=On World Children's Day: SNHR's 13th Annual Report on Violations Against Children in Syria |publisher=Syrian Network for Human Rights|archive-date=11 December 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211163844/https://snhr.org/blog/2024/11/20/on-world-childrens-day-snhrs-13th-annual-report-on-violations-against-children-in-syria/ |url=https://snhr.org/blog/2024/11/20/on-world-childrens-day-snhrs-13th-annual-report-on-violations-against-children-in-syria/ |url-status=live |access-date=6 March 2025|quote= the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were responsible for the killing of 274 children...3,702 children are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces, 319 by ISIS, 47 by HTS, 859 by SDF...1,270 schools and kindergartens were attacks by regime forces, 222 by Russian forces, 48 by SDF...The report also documents no fewer than 889 attacks on medical facilities in the same time period. A total of 562 attacks were carried out by regime forces, 209 by Russian forces, 19 by ISIS, 16 by all armed opposition factions/SNA, 16 by US-led International Coalition forces, 12 by SDF }} Another report published by the same organization stated that the SDF was responsible for the deaths of 287 women and that 983 women have been unlawfully imprisoned by SDF.{{Cite web |date=25 November 2024 |title=On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women: SNHR's 13th Annual Report on Violations Against Females in Syria |publisher=Syrian Network for Human Rights|archive-date=14 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114145325/https://snhr.org/blog/2024/11/25/on-the-international-day-for-the-elimination-of-violence-against-women-snhrs-13th-annual-report-on-violations-against-females-in-syria/ |url=https://snhr.org/blog/2024/11/25/on-the-international-day-for-the-elimination-of-violence-against-women-snhrs-13th-annual-report-on-violations-against-females-in-syria/ |url-status=live |access-date=6 March 2025|quote= the report reveals that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were responsible for the deaths of 287 females...8,979 females are still detained and/or forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces, 49 by HTS, 983 by SDF }} Another report said that the SDF had imprisoned 61 teachers for not following the curriculum and expelled 550 teachers for refusing to join the army.{{Cite web |date=19 February 2021 |title=Syrian Democratic Forces Have Arrested/ Detained at Least 61 Teachers Over Educational Curricula and for Forced Conscription Since the Beginning of 2021|publisher=Syrian Network for Human Rights|url=https://snhr.org/blog/2021/02/19/55948/|access-date=6 March 2025|quote= Syrian Democratic Forces have arrested/ detained at least 61 teachers over educational curricula and for forced conscription since the beginning of 2021, in addition to persecuting nearly 550 teachers arbitrarily dismissed from their jobs for refusing forced conscription in the governorates of Raqqa, Deir Ez-Zour and Hasaka. }} In another report published by SNHR, it was found that 3,417 people were arrested by the SDF and that no news was heard from them again. One of them, Syrian Kurdish opposition politician Amin Aisa al Ali, was detained by SDF forces without any legal justification. He was tortured and died in custody. His body was later returned to his family.{{Cite web |date=30 June 2021 |title=Condemning Syrian Democratic Forces' Forcible Disappearance and Killing by Torture of Amin al Ali |url=https://snhr.org/blog/2021/06/30/56464/ |access-date=6 March 2025 |publisher=Syrian Network for Human Rights |quote="The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) issued a report today condemning Syrian Democratic Forces’ forcible disappearance and killing by torture of Amin al Ali, noting that enforced disappearance and torture have become standard strategies used by the Syrian Democratic Forces, with nearly 3,417 persons forcibly disappeared and at least 67, including one child and two women, killed under torture in Syrian Democratic Forces’ detention centers since the group’s establishment."}} In a report published on 6 February 2025, the organisation determined that the SDF had killed 65 civilians, including one child and two women, with sniper fire in the city of Aleppo in two months.{{Cite web |date=6 February 2025 |title=65 Civilians, Including One Child and Two Women, Killed by SDF Snipers in Two Months in Aleppo city |url=https://snhr.org/blog/2025/02/06/65-civilians-including-one-child-and-two-women-killed-by-sdf-snipers-in-two-months-in-aleppo-city/ |access-date=6 March 2025|website=Syrian Network for Human Rights |language=en-US}}

In June 2015, Amnesty International released a report accusing the YPG of forcibly displacing and destroying the homes of civilians. The US State Department reacted by stating they would 'scrutinise' Amnesty International's accusations and that it had to determine if there was "any veracity to the claims", but showed concern by calling for any administrator in the area to rule "with respect for all groups regardless of ethnicity".{{Cite web |last=Saeed |first=Yerevan |date=14 October 2015 |title=US voices concern over allegations of rights violations by YPG |url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/14102015?keyword=amnesty |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208120149/http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/14102015?keyword=amnesty |archive-date=8 December 2015 |access-date=20 October 2015 |website=Rudaw |quote=We’ll look closely at all these accusations to determine whether there's any veracity to the claims ... We call on those who actually are or will participate in administering these areas to do so inclusively and with respect for all groups regardless of ethnicity }} The report makes accusations of looting, coercing civilians to join their armed forces and the forced targeted displacement of 1400 families in the Turkman villages of Hammam al-Turkman, 800 Turkmen from Mela Berho and Suluk residents. The report offers unnamed witness testimony from reported victims, cross referenced with photo and video evidence, media reports, and satellite imagery to substantiate these reports.{{Cite web |date=13 October 2015 |title=SYRIA: 'WE HAD NOWHERE TO GO' – FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND DEMOLITIONS IN NORTHERN SYRIA |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/2503/2015/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013105238/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/2503/2015/en/ |archive-date=13 October 2015 |access-date=28 August 2018 |publisher=Amnesty International }}

The Turkish government claimed that the YPG was carrying out ethnic cleansing of non-Kurdish populations as part of a plan to join the Jazira and Euphrates regions into a single territory.{{Cite news |date=16 June 2015 |title=Turkey accuses Kurdish forces of 'ethnic cleansing' in Syria |url=https://news.yahoo.com/turkey-accuses-kurdish-forces-ethnic-cleansing-syria-093148734.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105202740/https://news.yahoo.com/turkey-accuses-kurdish-forces-ethnic-cleansing-syria-093148734.html |archive-date=5 November 2018 |access-date=27 August 2018 |quote=President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he was troubled by the advance of Kurdish forces, saying they could in the future create a structure to threaten Turkey. |agency=Agence France-Presse }}

In a report published by the United Nations' Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic on 10 March 2017, the Commission refuted Amnesty International's reports of ethnic cleansing, stating that "'though allegations of 'ethnic cleansing' continued to be received during the period under review, the Commission found no evidence to substantiate reports that YPG or SDF forces ever targeted Arab communities on the basis of ethnicity".{{Cite web |date=15 March 2017 |title=Syria and Islamist groups guilty of war crimes, YPG cleared: UN report |url=https://komnews.com/syria-and-islamist-groups-guilty-of-war-crimes-ypg-cleared-un-report/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317054645/https://komnews.com/syria-and-islamist-groups-guilty-of-war-crimes-ypg-cleared-un-report/ |archive-date=17 March 2017 |website=Kom News }}{{Cite web |last=Antonopoulos |first=Paul |date=15 March 2017 |title=UN report counters Amnesty International's claim that Kurds are ethnically cleansing in Syria |url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/un-report-counters-amnesty-internationals-claim-that-kurds-are-ethnically-cleansing-in-syria/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518193449/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/un-report-counters-amnesty-internationals-claim-that-kurds-are-ethnically-cleansing-in-syria/ |archive-date=18 May 2017 |access-date=9 May 2017 }}{{Cite web |date=14 March 2017 |title=UN report refutes ethnic cleansing claims against Syrian Kurdish YPG, SDF |url=http://ekurd.net/ypg-changing-demographics-2017-03-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928193624/http://ekurd.net/ypg-changing-demographics-2017-03-14 |archive-date=28 September 2017 |access-date=9 May 2017 }}

In interviews, YPG spokespersons acknowledged that a number of families were in fact displaced. However, they placed the number at no more than 25,{{Citation |author=Amnesty International |title="We had nowhere else to go": Forced displacement and demolitions in northern Syria |date=13 October 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlOzoCHaNeM&t=2m10s |access-date=19 March 2016 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211113/LlOzoCHaNeM |archive-date=13 November 2021 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}} and stated military necessity. They stated that the family members of terrorists maintained communications with them, and therefore had to be removed from areas where they might pose a danger. They further reported that ISIL was using civilians in those areas to plant car bombs or carry out other attacks on the YPG.

In June 2014, Human Rights Watch criticized the YPG for accepting minors into their ranks,{{Cite web |publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |title=2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Syria |url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/559bd53712.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119132921/http://www.refworld.org/docid/559bd53712.html |archive-date=19 November 2018 |access-date=19 November 2018 |website=Refworld }} picking up on multiple earlier reports of teenage fighters serving in the YPG, with a report by the United Nations Secretary General stating that 24 minors under age of 18 had been recruited by YPG, with 124 having been recruited by the Free Syrian Army and 5 by the Syrian Arab Army.{{Cite report |url=https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/69/926 |title=Report of the Secretary-General: Children and armed conflict |publisher=U.N. Security Council |date=5 June 2015 |at=para. 191 |quote=Actual numbers are expected to be higher.... A number of pro-Government groups, including Hizbullah, also reportedly recruited children in small numbers. |access-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207014355/http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A%2F69%2F926 |archive-date=7 December 2017 |url-status=live }} In response, the YPG and YPJ signed the Geneva Call Deed of Commitment protecting children in armed conflict, prohibiting sexual violence and against gender discrimination in July 2014,{{Cite web |date=3 July 2017 |title=Syria: 4 brigades of the Free Syrian Army commit to prohibit sexual violence and the use of child soldiers |url=http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syria-4-brigades-free-syrian-army-commit-prohibit-sexual-violence-and |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828134513/https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syria-4-brigades-free-syrian-army-commit-prohibit-sexual-violence-and |archive-date=28 August 2018 |access-date=26 March 2019 |publisher=Reliefweb.int }} and Kurdish security forces (YPG and Asayish) began receiving human rights training from Geneva Call and other international organisations with the YPG pledging publicly to demobilize all fighters under 18 within a month and began to enact disciplinary measures against commanders of the units that had involved in corruption and accepting recruit under age of 18 to their ranks.{{Cite web |date=15 July 2015 |title=Syria: Kurdish Forces Violating Child Soldier Ban Despite Promises, Children Still Fight |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/10/syria-kurdish-forces-violating-child-soldier-ban-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721201536/http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/07/10/syria-kurdish-forces-violating-child-soldier-ban-0 |archive-date=21 July 2015 |access-date=15 July 2015 |website=Human Rights Watch }}{{Cite news |last1=Perry |first1=Tom |last2=Malla |first2=Naline |date=10 September 2015 |title=Western states train Kurdish force in Syria, force's leader says |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUKKCN0RA1MO20150910 |work=Reuters |quote=Amnesty International this month faulted the Kurdish administration for arbitrary detentions and unfair trials.... [Ciwan] Ibrahim said ... efforts were underway to improve its human rights record.... The Geneva Call ... promotes good treatment of civilians in war zones...}} In October 2015 the YPG demobilized 21 minors from the military service in its ranks.{{Cite report |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/10/ypg-demobilizes-21-children-under-the-age-of-18-from-the-military-service-in-its-ranks/ |title=YPG demobilizes 21 children under the age of 18 from the military service in its ranks |date=28 October 2015 |publisher=Syrian Observatory for Human Rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121223140/http://supportkurds.org/news/wednesday-28-october-2015/ |archive-date=21 November 2015}}

In response to reports issued by international organisations such as Human Rights Watch,{{Cite web |date=3 August 2018 |title=Syria: Armed Group Recruiting Children in Camps |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/03/syria-armed-group-recruiting-children-camps |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108003545/https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/03/syria-armed-group-recruiting-children-camps |archive-date=8 January 2019 |access-date=14 September 2018 |website=Human Rights Watch }} the general command of the SDF issued a military order prohibiting the recruitment of children.{{Cite web |title=SDF command issues order banning child recruitment |url=http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/380c0f07-bd15-4d0b-b57b-1cd23b7bf977 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914165534/http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/380c0f07-bd15-4d0b-b57b-1cd23b7bf977 |archive-date=14 September 2018 |access-date=14 September 2018 |website=Kurdistan 24 }} On 29 June 2019, Abdi, as representative of the SDF, signed the action plan of the United Nations aiming to prevent the enlistment of child soldiers in the armed forces. The action plan was signed to address the inclusion of the YPG in the SDF.{{Cite web |date=2 July 2019 |title=SDF signs UN plan to end use of children in Syrian conflict |url=https://thedefensepost.com/2019/07/02/syria-sdf-child-soldiers-un-action-plan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703171432/https://thedefensepost.com/2019/07/02/syria-sdf-child-soldiers-un-action-plan/ |archive-date=3 July 2019 |access-date=5 November 2019 |website=The Defense Post |language=en-US}}

In 2020, United Nations reported SDF as the largest faction in the Syrian civil war by the number recruited child soldiers, with 283 child soldiers followed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham with 245 child soldiers.{{Cite web |title=General Assembly Security Council Seventy-fourth session Seventy-fifth year Agenda item 66 (a) Promotion and protection of the rights of children |url=https://www.un.org/sg/sites/www.un.org.sg/files/atoms/files/15-June-2020_Secretary-General_Report_on_CAAC_Eng.pdf |access-date=16 June 2020 |publisher=United Nations}}

On 2 April 2016, SDF members and local police fired at a protest march from Umm Hajira to al-Hawl, killing a 15-year-old and injuring over a dozen others.{{Cite web |last=Daaboul |first=Azzam |date=4 April 2016 |title=US-backed SDF reportedly opens fire on protestors, 1 killed |url=https://syriadirect.org/us-backed-sdf-reportedly-opens-fire-on-protestors-1-killed/ |access-date=12 December 2024 |website=Syria Direct |language=en-US}}

On 9 May 2019, SDF members allegedly opened fire on protesters in the village of Al-Shheell, killing one person.{{Cite web |last=Weinberg |first=Bill |date=11 May 2019 |title=Syrian Democratic Forces fire on Arab protesters |url=https://countervortex.org/blog/syrian-democratic-forces-fire-on-arab-protesters/ |access-date=12 December 2024|website=CounterVortex |language=en-US}}

On 21 April, a civilian was killed by SDF members in Al-Hasakah.{{cite web|url=https://www.syriahr.com/en/360444/|title= Al-Hasakah {{!}} Elderly civilian shot dead by security forces and SOHR calls for investigation and accountability|work= SOHR|date= 21 April 2025}}

• List of military equipment used by Syrian Democratic Forces
• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
• Syrian Democratic Council
• Movement for a Democratic Society
• Democratic Union Party (Syria)
• Federalization of Syria
• Rojava conflict
• Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
• Foreign relations of North and East Syria
• Relations with the Syrian government
• YPG–FSA relations

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Rashid |first=Bedir Mulla |url=http://omranstudies.org/publications/reports/download/68_d403f01ed28320cb2e67b13cffb381c7.html |title=Military and Security Structures of the Autonomous Administration in Syria |date=2018 |publisher=Omran for Strategic Studies |location=Istanbul |translator-last=Obaida Hitto |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701140230/http://omranstudies.org/publications/reports/download/68_d403f01ed28320cb2e67b13cffb381c7.html |archive-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=dead |orig-year=1st pub. 2017}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Austin Holmes |first=Amy |date=2019 |title=SDF's Arab Majority Rank Turkey as the Biggest Threat to NE Syria. Survey Data on America's Partner Forces |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/sdf_arab_majority_rank_turkey_as_biggest_threat.pdf |journal=Middle East Program |publisher=Wilson Center |volume=21 |issue=16}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official website|http://sdf-press.com/en/}}
• {{Official website|http://sdf-press.com/}} {{in lang|ar}}
• {{Official website|http://sdf-press.com/kurdi/}} {{in lang|ku}}

{{Syrian civil war}}

Category:Anti-ISIL factions in Syria

Category:Military units and factions of the Syrian civil war

Category:Military units and formations established in 2015

Category:Operations rooms of the Syrian civil war

Category:Syrian Kurdistan

Category:2015 establishments in Syria