Syrian Democratic Forces

October 13, 2015 - 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 ...

YPG and YPJ are reportedly ‘responsible for defence and security, including protecting the ‘external borders’ with Iraq, Turkey and the rest of Syria’. Various sources estimate SDF's strength to be around 40 000 to 60 000 fighters, of which ...

1 day ago - The SDF, a group of multi-ethnic ... autonomy during Syria's civil war. Estimates of its force size vary wildly from 50,000 to 100,000....

The SDF hold a demographically heterogeneous region of about 30 % of the Syrian territory, comprising most of Hasaka governorate as well as areas in Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa governorates and a small enclave in Aleppo countryside.

November 11, 2020 - The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is the key powerbroker in north-eastern Syria. Operating through the local Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a multiethnic military coalition formed in 2015 during the Syrian Civil War, primarily to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Comprising fighters from various cultural backgrounds, including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians, and Armenians, ...

2016) estimated the Southern Front's size at approximately 25,000 fighters. ​According to the Christian Science Monitor (Nov. 2016), the Southern Front has roughly 30,000 fighters active in Syria.

With more than 30% of eastern Syria under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the optimistic Syrian outlook may be shaken a bit, and with it questions, especially with the ongoing moves by the opposition to liberate more areas in Syria.

For information regarding security trends in the Kurdish-controlled areas prior to November 2024, see sections 2.2., 2.7., 2.8. and 2.9. of the EUAA COI Report Syria – Security Situation (October 2024). The SDF control a large swath of territory in northeastern Syria that accounts for almost one-third of the country’s overall area.725 These territories comprised about 70 percent of Syria’s oil and gas fields.726 As of February and March 2025, the territories controlled, occupied, or seized by the SDF encompassed most of Hasaka, approximately half of Raqqa (including Raqqa city), and the

January 19, 2023 - A week earlier, defence ministers from Syria, Turkey and Russia had met in Moscow to discuss the Syrian civil war, refugees and extremist groups. Mr Erdogan wants Mr Assad to keep the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a militia in north-east Syria led by Kurds, in check.

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4 days ago - The region gained its de facto ... Forces (SDF), has taken part. While entertaining some foreign relations, the region is neither officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria, state, or other governments institutions except for the Catalan Parliament. Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Arab, ...

19 hours ago - During the fall of the Assad regime, a period marked by instability and uncertainty, Turkey and its affiliated militant group, the Syrian National Army (SNA), launched various offensives against Kurdish-controlled areas east of the Euphrates. Following months of fighting, which stalled near the Tishrin Dam, and an SDF counteroffensive in December 2024, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi and Syrian transitional government leader Ahmed al-Sharaa signed the U.S.-backed 10 March agreement, which implemented a country-wide ceasefire and laid out principles for the integration of the DAANES into the new Syrian government.

Publicly welcomed by Washington, the European Union, the UN, and other actors, the agreement is key to Syria’s stabilization and economic recovery—neither of which is achievable without addressing the future of the SDF-held northeast, an area that includes 95 percent of the country’s oil and gas resources.

The SDF are a military alliance in which the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) is a prominent component. In March 2025, SDF leaders signed a deal with the Transitional Administration to integrate their armed forces and civilian institutions into the new Syrian military and Ministry ...

October 29, 2025 - He added that at least one blockade ... deadline at the end of this year. On the other hand, the new Syrian government may be motivated by the fact that integrating with the SDF would significantly expand the size of the national army....

October 18, 2023 - Partnering with hundreds of US Special Forces and with smaller numbers of British and French troops, the SDF successfully defeated the so-called caliphate of IS in the city of Raqqa and surrounding areas in late 2017 and early 2018, incurring thousands of casualties in the process and earning the respect of American military commanders for their fighting prowess and sacrifices. With the territorial defeat of IS, the SDF expanded its geographic reach to include large areas of northeastern Syria which are mostly ethnically Arab.

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The SDF has expanded its control over Deir al-Zor, but may soon find itself overstretched and facing Turkish allies. ... Diwan, a blog from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Program and the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, draws on Carnegie scholars to provide insight into and analysis of the region. Learn More · The U.S.-backed Kurdish-dominated Syrian ...