The Qamishli Front

A guest post by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.

The northeastern corner of Syria- with the city of Qamishli and its surrounding area- has attracted some media attention as a scene of what is known as the wider “Kurdish-Jihadi” conflict that erupted since the expulsion of jihadis from the Hasakah northern border town of Ras al-Ayn by the YPG in July. So which factions are fighting on the Qamishli front on both sides?

Rebel Offensive

On the offensive, most egregious is the ongoing wave of suicide bombings that have struck the positions of the YPG and of the Assad regime’s National Defense Force militia (NDF) in the city of Qamishli itself, perpetrated more recently by the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham [ISIS]. Fighting between ISIS and factions defending Qamishli has been intermittent for a number of months now, including the claimed capture by ISIS in early August of two villages near Qamishli: namely, al-Baza and al-Hamara. Similarly, in late October, ISIS sources reported ongoing clashes between ISIS and the YPG on a number of fronts.

Figure 1: Photo circulated in ISIS circles of aftermath of a suicide car bombing in late November in Qamishli, targeting the YPG.

Figure 2: Aftermath of suicide car bombing perpetrated by one Abu Saleh al-Qasimi of ISIS, targeting the NDF. Photo released on 6 December.

Keen to downplay accusations of anti-Kurdish racism, ISIS has been eager to show Kurdish participation in its operations on the Qamishli front in particular and Hasakah governorate in general (now renamed ‘al-Baraka’ province in ISIS circles).

Figure 3: Aftermath of a suicide car bombing perpetrated against the YPG in Qamishli by ISIS’ Abu Omar al-Kurdi al-Muhajir in late November.

  

Figure 4: Kurdish fighters for ISIS.

Figure 5: “Message from Kurdish Mujahideen from the Islamic State.” ISIS video of Kurdish fighters in Syria, speaking in Kurdish, not Arabic.

It would be mistaken to characterize ISIS as the sole or leading participant in the offensive on the Qamishli front. For example, in July, in the immediate aftermath of the expulsion of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra from Qamishli, an umbrella “liberation front” for the Qamishli area was announced, with chanting featured at the end of a jihadist orientation, most notably the slogan: “The Caliphate is the promise of God.”

Figure 6: “Statement of the Liberation Front of Qamishli if God wills.” 

In this context, it is worth mentioning another major set of groups on the Qamishli front of a jihadi/Caliphate orientation: namely, those going by the name of Ansar al-Khilafa. At least one of these ruled with Jabhat al-Nusra/ISIS as part of a joint coalition over the eastern border town of Yaroubiya until these forces were expelled by the YPG in late October. This Ansar al-Khilafa of the ruling coalition of Yaroubiya- described as ‘ansar’ (i.e. affiliates) of ISIS by a local pro-ISIS Hasakah contact- is independent from the Ansar al-Khilafa brigade affiliated with Hizb-ut-Tahrir in the western Aleppo countryside.

However, an announcement posted on 15 October announcing a new offensive on the Qamishli front entitled “And say: Truth has come and Falsehood has perished” indicates that Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s Ansar al-Khilafa has sent deployments to the Qamishli area as well, cooperating with these other Ansar al-Khilafa groups. Indeed, the announcement listed the following participating battalions: “Jabhat al-Nusra, Liwa Amjad al-Islam, Collection of Ansar al-Khilafa Brigades, including” [NB: emphasis my own] the Ansar al-Khilafa brigades of western Aleppo countryside and the town of Aleppo itself, and finally Liwa al-Qadisiyah.

The last brigade in this list has claimed some dead fighters as of October in Hasakah province through fighting regime forces and the “militias of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party” (PKK, used interchangeably in rebel discourse with the PYD and YPG): namely, Abdullah Said al-Namar al-Dagheem, Ahmad Ali Ibrahim al-Dagheem, Hafez Saleem al-Omori and Mahmoud Khattab.

Figure 7: Ansar al-Khilafa tank operating in the Qamishli area as part of the new offensive announced in October.

Figure 8: Ansar al-Khilafa fighters celebrate victory over the dead corpse of a regime fighter killed amid the claimed capture of the Abu Qusayeb checkpoint in Qamishli area. From late June

Figure 9: One of the logos used by Liwa Amjad al-Islam, a battalion primarily based in Aleppo governorate that has also deployed fighters for the Qamishli front as part of the October offensive.

At the same time as this “And say: Truth has come and Falsehood has perished” offensive was announced, a “Battle of Furqan” offensive in the Qamishli area was declared against the PKK/PYD, including ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar ash-Sham and the “Free Army.” Ahrar ash-Sham has previously coordinated with Anṣar al-Khilafa and fellow Salafist rebel groups such as Jaysh al-Tawheed (part of the former Syrian Islamic Front coalition) in the Qamishli area.

More generally in Hasakah province, Ahrar ash-Sham coordinates and maintains good relations with ISIS, contrasting with localized tensions in both Aleppo and Idlib governorates out towards the west (e.g. see this local Ahrar ash-Sham statement on conflict with ISIS in Maskana, Aleppo province, over a court dispute). Thus a joint ISIS-Ahrar ash-Sham operation was conducted against the YPG in Tel Ma’aruf in late November. An Ahrar ash-Sham supporter from Qamishli similarly confirmed to me an overall good working relationship between ISIS and Ahrar ash-Sham in Hasakah province.

Figure 10: ISIS and Ahrar ash-Sham flags side-by-side in al-Hawal, Hasakah province, on the border with Iraq.

Considering how often rebel groups announce new umbrella fronts and united battle initiatives, one should not imagine an organized sustained offensive on the Qamishli front. There are instances of cooperation but fighting remains haphazard and confused, though the overall effort to push on Qamishli and surrounding towns is undoubtedly being led by groups of jihadist and Salafist orientation.

Factions on the DefensiveThe city of Qamishli itself is controlled by two main factions: the YPG militias, and the Assad regime’s NDF. Since the summer, the YPG has significantly expanded its power base in the city at the expense of regime forces, but the exact nature of the relationship between the two factions remains nebulous. Any cooperation that does exist- perhaps in trying to prevent suicide bomb attacks on the town, for example- ought to be attributed more to PYD pragmatism rather than ideological sympathy and affinity. A more recent incident pointing to tension between the two factions involved the case of an American journalist whom regime forces in Qamishli tried to detain as opposed to YPG policy of securing the person’s release.

Perhaps of most interest in the context of relations between factions on the defensive in the Qamishli area is the existence of Syriac Christian defense militias going by the name of Sootoro. They exist in Qamishli, al-Malikiya and al-Qahtaniya.

Figure 11: A Sootoro emblem, associated with the “Syriac Protection Office” of the city of Qamishli.

According to Echoue Gouriye, head of the Syriac Union Party that seeks to advance Syriac Christian interests in Syria and has a base in Qamishli, Sootoro had its beginnings among Syriac youth in the town of al-Qahtaniya after the withdrawal of regime forces, then in al-Malikiyah (again, outside of regime control), and finally in Qamishli, rooted in the belief that Syriac Christians must take it upon themselves to defend their areas and cannot simply rely on others to provide protection. At the same time, Gouriye made clear to me that the approach does not exclude cooperation with Kurds or Arabs when problems arise.

It has been suggested that the Sootoro movement has split since its inception, with the Qamishli branch overrun by pro-regime elements while those in al-Qahtaniya and al-Malikiya remaining linked to the Syriac Union Party. The Qamishli branch officially claims neutrality, with the Syriac Protection Office having stated the following to me in an interview: “We do not fight against any side of the conflict in Syria, but our work encompasses protecting our regions from theft or kidnapping operations…and we have forged an excellent relationship with all groups of Syrian society in general and with the people of Qamishli in particular.”

However, an overview of the Qamishli Sootoro’s photos quickly shows a regime affinity at least on the part of the leadership, most notably through the presence of the regime flag in its images. Of course, it does not necessarily follow that these Sootoro members are somehow diehard Ba’athists. They should rather be seen as analogous to the Druze militias of southern Syria: that is, they likely see the regime as the best guarantor of the protection of the Syriac community’s lands and interests, any reservations about the traditional Ba’athist denial of non-Arab-Christian identity notwithstanding. This tendency is reinforced by the Islamic supremacist tendencies of fighters leading the offensive on the Qamishli front, culminating in the desecration of some Syriac churches.

Figure 12: Sootoro militiamen in a Qamishli street. Note the regime flag on the building.

Figure 13: Sootoro militiamen in Qamishli. 

Figure 14: Syrian regime flag in the Qamishli Sootoro’s Protection Office.

Figure 15: The Mar Malki Church in the Qamishli countryside, burnt down in September.

Pointing to a split between the Qamishli Sootoro and groups using the name Sootoro in other towns is a statement released in late October by the Qamishli office, addressed to the people of al-Hasakah, al-Malikiya and al-Qahtaniya, reading as follows:

“Stories have proliferated recently about the existence of members affiliated with the protection office (Sootoro) in your great towns, so we inform you that we in the protection office have not formed until now any branch outside the city of Qamishli and that we were in the process of forming branches to cover al-Malikiya, al-Qahtaniya and al-Hasakah as well with these branches composed of your great sons….and [with cooperation etc.] there will be an announcement about it in official form.”

The statement therefore quite clearly separates the Qamishli Sootoro from any groups using this name in other towns.

Figure 16: Qamishli Sootoro statement in late October denying formation of new branches in al-Malikiya, al-Qahtaniya and al-Hasakah.

In any event, Sootoro groups maintain generally cordial relations with local Kurdish militias in particular, as the Qamishli group in particular has attended funerals for YPG fighters killed in July in clashes with Jabhat al-Nusra, offering words of praise for their efforts. In a similar vein, the Qamishli protection office claims to have given refuge to a Kurdish militiaman from al-Malikiya who had personal problems, allowing him to spend the night in the Qamishli office and be restored to his family the following day.

This fits in well with the Qamishli Sootoro’s claim to me that the group makes no sectarian distinctions in their areas. Indeed, such an approach makes sense in a context where, like the Druze of southern Syria, there is little capacity for or interest in establishing any kind of separatist trend. There is also a contrast here with the 1980s when many Assyrian Christians joined Kurdish Peshmerga militias (rather than form separate militias) in the face of Saddam Hussein’s al-Anfal campaign that saw the destruction of numerous Christian villages in the north of the country.

ConclusionNeither those attempting to take Qamishli and the surrounding area nor those factions defending the region form united fronts, with relations between the YPG, regime forces and Sootoro groups particularly complex. However, in the long-term, territorial control is likely to remain out of rebel hands, since the rebel factions lack local demographic appeal in the face of a strengthened YPG in Hasakah province in particular.


Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Thanks to David Vergili for establishing contact with Echoue Gouriye.

The Fall of Yaroubiya to the YPG In Context

A guest post by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi and Fadel al-Kifa’ee.

Introduction: Solidifying Stalemate

The small town of Yaroubiya in north-east Syria (Hasakah governorate) on the border with Iraq recently came to media attention in light of the takeover of the locality by the YPG- a Kurdish militia affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD). This resulted in the expulsion of the al-Qa’ida affiliate Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), among other fighters

To be sure, in the grand scheme of things in the conflict between the YPG and rival rebel factions, the takeover of Yaroubiya does not represent a decisive turning point but a further step towards the most likely overall outcome: namely, consolidation of existing positions.

Generally, since the outbreak of wider conflict following the YPG’s expulsion of ISIS from Ras al-Ayn in July, the YPG has retained its strongholds in Hasakah governorate- where Kurds form a continuum of populated territory in much of the area- and expanded its control to an increasing degree.

In the case of Ras al-Ayn, Jabhat al-Nusra (JN), ISIS and Ahrar ash-Sham have repeatedly failed to advance beyond the outskirts since July, and have at best only launched mortar strikes on the town center.

In contrast, in Aleppo and Raqqa governorates, where Kurds form pockets of population, the YPG has suffered serious losses, such as expulsion in August from the town of Tel Abyaḍ in northern Raqqa on the border with Turkey.

The Situation in Yaroubiya

The case of Yaroubiya stands out for its wider analytical implications. Just before the YPG takeover, the town was under the control of ISIS/JN and two other groups: Ansar al-Khilafa and Liwa al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad.

Some comment is needed here on the JN-ISIS relationship in these eastern borderlands: it would appear that the boundaries between the two remain unclear.

Thus, consider the photographic evidence below. The town of Yaroubiya features JN graffiti that has not been erased, but from the same period of the YPG offensive on the town photos of captured vehicles with the ISIS banner were released. Certainly for the YPG the two names and banners are interchangeable. This is similarly the case with reports from jihadi sources on the Yaroubiya area.

Perhaps the lack of clear boundaries between ISIS and JN in these border areas is not so surprising, where mujahideen both Syrian and foreign will naturally tie the struggles of eastern Syria and the Sunni protestors and insurgents in Anbar and Ninawa governorates in Iraq to one unified cause.

Figure 1: Entry to the market in Yaroubiya, featuring JN graffiti on the wall to the right (cf. this video at around 1:30 minutes in).

Figure 2: Vehicle captured by the YPG featuring the ISIS banner. Photo released on 24 October.

Figure 3: A graphic put out by a YPG fighter equating JN and ISIS- seen as one entity- with the gates of Hell.

According to a pro-ISIS source in Hasakah interviewed for this piece, Ansar al-Khilafa and Liwa al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad are aligned with ISIS/JN, but Liwa al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad was a very small battalion in Yaroubiya. The town was also home to a rebel group drawn from local Arab Shammar tribesmen: Liwa Ahrar al-Jazira (LAJ). The battalion was expelled from Yaroubiya in mid-October on ISIS/JN allegations of corruption. The price of flour for distribution to local inhabitants was then lowered to consolidate control over the town.

Figure 4: Photo of an Ansar al-Khilafa fighter at the Yaroubiya border gate on October 26. The town fell into YPG hands towards the end of the day. It should be pointed out that multiple groups in Syria use the name Ansar al-Khilafa. This group in Yaroubiya- extending into the Qamishli area- is distinct from Ansar al-Khilafa in Aleppo governorate affiliated with Hizb-ut-Tahrir.

Figure 5: Liwa al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad fighters in Yaroubiya on October 26, showing that they had not been driven out just yet.

Key to the narrative put out by jihadi supporters over the fall of Yaroubiya is the notion of ‘betrayal’ in the sense of collaboration between the local tribesmen, the Iraqi army under the Maliki government, and the Assad regime.

Though LAJ stayed out of the fighting and put up an announcement on Facebook immediately after the fall of Yaroubiya denouncing an alleged Iraqi army presence in the town, a report from the Iraqi Kurdish outlet Rudaw-corroborated by our local Hasakah source- has shown that LAJ has tried to reach out to the YPG for a power-sharing deal.

Figure 6: Photo distributed by LAJ, among others, allegedly showing Iraqi army vehicles in Yaroubiya. However, they do not actually belong to the Iraqi army, but the YPG.

In contrast, ISIS/JN, Ansar al-Khilafa and Liwa al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad are on the outskirts trying to regain control, aided by the Salafist battalion Ahrar ash-Sham’s firing mortar rounds at the YPG, accused by Ahrar ash-Sham of being “agents” of Iran, Assad and Israel.

This reflects the general tendency whereby organized rebel battalions- whether under the FSA-banner or Islamist coalitions-will not side with the YPG against ISIS. The rule of thumb here is partly rooted in the widespread perception of the PYD as a regime agent, though a more accurate characterization is that the PYD is determined to hold on to Kurdish areas at least and to this end is willing to cooperate or fight with regime forces and rebels depending on the circumstances at a local level.

In any case, tribal locals and other civilians- even of Arab ethnicity- differ from the organized rebel battalions in that they may prefer the YPG as the lesser of two evils, such that the YPG has now organized an “Arab Citizens’ Battalions” military unit.

Perhaps more important is the question of the Iraqi government role. It is certainly true that the Iraqi army reinforced their own side of the border, but there is no evidence of active Iraqi military aid to the YPG. Nor is there evidence for Assad forces’ assistance to the YPG in this case, despite the clear pleasure shown by pro-Assad channel Sama TV at the YPG takeover.

Figure 7: Screenshot from a video currently being circulated in jihadi social media purporting to show an Iraqi army Humvee on the Iraqi side of the border across from Yaroubiya.

Rather, the Iraqi aim was to stop the ISIS fighters in particular from slipping into Ninawa province, where, as a report from Baghdad’s newspaper al-Aalem has shown, ISIS fighters have frequently retreated in the face of rout at the hands of the YPG and/or regime forces as a launching pad to head back into Syria. Mosul in particular- where ISIS has an extensive financial network- serves as an apt base for recuperation. Of course, the YPG will also have an interest in preventing ISIS fighters from having border crossings whereby they can retreat into Iraq to launch new incursions into their territory in Syria.

Yaroubiya and Kurdish Rivalries

Unsurprisingly, this coinciding of interests on the part of the YPG and Iraqi government has won praise for Baghdad from some Syrian Kurdish figures. For example, Shelal Kedo- a member of the Syrian Kurdish Council- told Iraqi outlet al-Sumaria News that the takeover of Yaroubiya marked a turning point for the better in relations between Syrian Kurds and Iraq.

At the same time, a member of the West Kurdistan Council (NB West Kurdistan- Syrian Kurdistan) denied active Iraqi assistance in the takeover of Yaroubiya. In any event, the positive outlook on the alignment of interests between Baghdad and the YPG contrasts notably with the tensions between the PYD and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government under Massoud Barzani, whose ties with Turkey are viewed with strong dislike by the PYD. The PYD sees Ankara as supporting jihadis against Syrian Kurds. Some YPG commanders have also voiced disaffection at a perceived lack of support from Arbil for the fight against the jihadis.

Far from bringing about Kurdish political unity in the face of a perceived common threat, therefore, the Yaroubiya affair may actually help solidify divisions among Kurds and hinder the long-term prospects of an oft-touted merger of Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Indeed, it is apparent that in its conflict with other rebel groups, the YPG has been able to bolster the PYD’s image as protector of Syrian Kurds, to the detriment of rival Kurdish factions.

Recently the YPG released a statement accusing several factions of committing aggression on YPG territory. Besides usual suspects such as ISIS, Ahrar ash-Sham and Liwa al-Tawhid (all of whom were part of a joint statement in August calling for the purging of the ‘PKK’- interchangeable with YPG here- from the Manbij-Hasakah highway), the YPG also singled out the Kurdish Islamic Front and the Salah ad-Din Kurdish brigade.

The Kurdish Islamic Front is a Salafist group that supports ISIS in its fight with the PYD and runs a number of schools according to Shari’a for Kurdish children in Aleppo, among other areas. It should also be noted in this context that the Kurdistan Islamic Union Party in Iraq has confirmed that some 30 Iraqi Kurds from Sulaymaniya have gone to join the ranks of JN/ISIS. The Salah ad-Din brigade was accused by the PYD last year of coordinating an attack with Jabhat al-Nusra on a Kurdish area of Aleppo.

Figure 8: Logo of the Kurdish Islamic Front.

On the political level, affiliates of the Kurdish National Council (KNC), which rivals the PYD, are hurt by association with the opposition-in-exile coalition, which after the takeover of Yaroubiya released a statement condemning the YPG for expelling the ‘FSA’ from the town (even as there were no FSA groups in the town by the time of the YPG takeover) with supposed Iraqi military assistance. Such detachment from reality can do the KNC no good to win Syrian Kurdish support.

In short, the Yaroubiya affair reflects a hardening of divisions, not only in territory between the YPG and other rebels, but also among the Kurdish political factions of Syria and Iraq. The events should further illustrate that the role of political ideology in the Syrian conflict cannot be down-played as analysis cannot be reduced to single paradigms of ethnicity or who simply has more money and arms.

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, and a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum. Fadel al-Kifa’ee is an Iraqi political analyst. Follow on Twitter @ajaltamimi and @fadelalkifaee