Syrian Democratic Forces

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HeadquartersQamishli (capital city)

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious alliance of mainly Kurdish and Arab militias which was founded in October 2015 in the city of Al-Hasakah with the aim of fighting to create a secular, democratic and federal Syria, along the lines of Kurdistan's Rojava region in Northern Syria.[1]

Military offensive

In August 2017, the US-backed SDF began preparations for a military offensive against Deir Ezzor to prevent the Syrian Arab Army from re-establishing military control over the oil rich-territory.[2]

Two options for the SDF

On 31 May 2018, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned US-backed Kurdish forces he would not hesitate to use force to retake the third of the country they control:

"The only problem left in Syria is the SDF," Assad told Russia Today, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces which have spearheaded battles against Islamic State group jihadists. "We're going to deal with it by two options," he said. "The first one: we started now opening doors for negotiations. Because the majority of them are Syrians, supposedly they like their country, they don't like to be puppets to any foreigners," Assad said.
"We have one option, to live with each other as Syrians. If not, we're going to resort... to liberating those areas by force. It's our land, it's our right and it's our duty to liberate it, and the Americans should leave. Somehow they're going to leave," he said.[3]


Related Document

TitleTypePublication dateAuthor(s)Description
Document:How did the US rename a terror group to work with itArticle24 January 2018Murat YetkinSo Mr Tillerson, contrary to what CENTCOM and Brett McGurk keep telling you, the Syrian Democratic Forces are not a “truly multi-ethnic” group of freedom fighters uniting against ISIL barbarism. The handful of Arab tribes in the SDF are there for cosmetic purposes only, as part an effort to cover up cooperation between US forces and a group that your administration official designates a “terrorist group.”