Syrian Democratic Forces

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a collaborative military force that was one of several entities fighting in the Syrian Civil War that began in 2011. Formed from several preexisting United States-aligned militias, the current membership includes fighters from an array of different cultural groups, including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians, and Armenians. The SDF was formed by Western forces to help in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)—a fundamentalist group also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

After the defeat of ISIL forces on March 23, 2019, the SDF was named as the official military force of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), an area formerly under ISIL control that is known as Rojava by its residents. This region covering approximately 19,000 square miles (50,000 square kilometers) consists of a collection of self-governing territories that are ostensibly independent from the rest of Syria. However, the SDF remains actively involved in protecting the areas under its control from other active military forces still fighting for control of Syria.

Background

The Syrian Civil War is an armed conflict that has been waged in Syria since 2011. The conflict grew out the larger Arab Spring movement of 2010–2011 in which a number of countries saw dramatic uprisings against oppressive regimes through North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Asia. While similar uprisings were comparatively brief and somewhat successful in such places as Tunisia, Egypt, and Bahrain, in Syria the resulting uprising led to the start of sectarian violence and war.

Bashar al-Assad had served as the President of Syria since 2000 when he inherited the presidency after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad. Although Western observers had initially believed that al-Assad would prove to be a far more moderate and measured leader than his notoriously authoritarian father, al-Assad’s response to the growing unrest in his country dashed hopes about his potential as a reformist leader.

By March 15, 2011, protests associated with the Arab Spring had spread to several cities in Syria, including Aleppo and Damascus. In the southern city of Daraa, several teens were arrested after spray painting anti-government slogans. Residents of the city erupted into protests against the arrests, ultimately leading to the deaths of several dozen protestors after government security forces violently tried to end the dissent.

Al-Assad initially took a concessionist stance by offering to end a declaration of emergency that had been in place for forty-eight years. In addition, he offered to allow the formation of new opposition political parties—a stance that was considered to be a potentially significant step towards greater freedoms. Although al-Assad finally ended the state of emergency several weeks later, he was seen as attempting to stonewall any added freedoms by dragging his feet. In response, the United States announced sanctions against al-Assad to force him to enact his promised reforms.

Further attempts to force al-Assad’s hand were unsuccessful, particularly after Syria was able to enlist Russia and China to revoke any United Nations resolutions made against the country. In the interim, armed fighting between Syrian national forces and a variety of opposition groups began to spread through Syria. Although Syria had long been one of the most ethnically diverse nations in the region, these groups had largely lived in relative harmony under al-Assad’s rigid hand. However, the violence began to take an increasing sectarian turn as various ethnic groups shuffled for power. Included among the many groups fighting throughout the country were the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a collection of former military operatives united in opposition to al-Assad; the Nusra Front, an offshoot of al-Qaida; the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), which were composed of experienced Kurdish fighters from Syria’s north; the National Front for Liberation and other aligned rebel groups that were officially sanctioned by the West as the interim government of Syria; and a variety of other, smaller ethnically aligned militias operating on local levels throughout the country.

In the midst of an escalating humanitarian and military crisis, ISIL used the chaos to seize large stretches of land in the country’s rugged and remote west. In January 2014, ISIL announced that it had made the Syrian city of Raqqa the capital of its new caliphate. As Western forces agreed not to directly join the war, international states with a vested interest in the outcome of the war—including Turkey, the United States, and Russia—began to recruit de facto forces to support their agendas. For the United States, both the forces of al-Assad and ISIL represented threats to the stability of the region.

To that end, American diplomats began to assemble a multiethnic group to stave off the growing power of ISIL in the region. On October 11, 2015, eight different militias announced an agreement to operate in conjunction with one another as the SDF. In December 2015, the SDF announced the formation of a political wing called the Syrian Democratic Council.

Overview

The centerpiece of the SDF was the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which constituted both the best organized and largest force within the SDF. Other groups included the Al-Sanadid Forces, a 5,000-person-strong militia composed of members from the Arab Shammar tribe; the Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa, a collection of 800 fighters of Sunni Muslim origin from the Raqqa region; the 1,500 person Jaysh al-Thuwar, a multiethnic confederation of forces from Syria’s north; the Euphrates Volcano, which was a joint union of non-YPG Kurds and former members of the FSA; and the Syriac Military Council, which was composed of Assyrians and Syriacs, two Christian minority groups with about 1,000 fighters. Together with the 25,000-member-strong YPG and YPJ, the SDF proved to be a key part of the gradual defeat of ISIL forces across northern and western Syria. Between its foundation in 2015 and the defeat of ISIL in March 2019, the SDF announced its losses had exceeded 10,000 fighters.

For the United States, the joint confederation of a multiethnic force represented an opportunity to bring together Kurds, Arabs, Christians, and other minority groups together under a single umbrella. The United States hoped that, in the event that the SDF is able to leverage its gains in the north into Damascus and the south, it would provide the basis for a functional and democratic Syrian government. In early 2019, the SDF consisted of approximately 15,000 soldiers, about one-third of whom identified as Arab. In early October 2019, President Donald Trump's administration announced that the United States would begin removing troops from the Syrian-Turkey border. The move sparked mixed responses, however, as many critics believed pulling US troops would leave the SDF open for attack from Turkey. Indeed, shortly after, Turkey launched an air and ground invasion against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. By the end of October, the SDF had begun withdrawing a number of miles from the border to comply with an agreement that had been made between Turkey and Russia in an effort to reduce violence in the area.

In 2024, a collection of rebel groups, including the SDF, began seizing Syrian government territory. In December, the rebels entered Damascus, seizing control of the capital. Fearing capture, Assad and his family fled the country. The Syrian Salvation Government established a transitional government to manage the nation while a permanent government could be formed. Also in 2024, the SAF were accused of carrying out war crimes following the territorial defeat of ISIL, including torturing prisoners held in detention facilities.

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