“American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War refers to the United States-led support of Syrian opposition and the Federation of Northern Syria during the course of the Syrian Civil War and active military involvement led by the United States and its allies — the militaries of the United Kingdom, France, Jordan, Turkey, Canada, Australia and more — against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front since 2014. Since early 2017, the U.S. and other Coalition partners have also targeted positions of the Syrian Government and its allies via airstrikes and aircraft shoot downs.

During the Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011, the U.S. first supplied the rebels of the Free Syrian Army with non-lethal aid (including food rations and pickup trucks), but quickly began providing training, money, and intelligence to selected Syrian rebel commanders. Two U.S. programs attempted to assist the Syrian rebels. One was a 2014 Pentagon program that planned to train and equip 15,000 rebels to fight ISIL, which was canceled in 2015 after spending $500 million and producing only a few dozen fighters.^[160] A simultaneous $1 billion covert program called Timber Sycamore ran by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was more successful, but was decimated by Russian bombing and canceled in mid-2017 by the Trump administration.^[120]

The Obama administration began surveillance missions on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's positions in Syria in September 2014.^[121] On 22 September 2014, the U.S., Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) began to attack ISIL forces inside Syria,^[122]^[123] as well as the Khorasan group in the Idlib Governorate west of Aleppo and the al-Nusra Front around Raqqa,^[124]^[125] as part of the multinational military intervention against ISIL.

The U.S. missile strike on Shayrat Airbase on 7 April 2017 was the first time the U.S. became a deliberate, direct combatant against the Syrian government^[126] and marked the start of a series of deliberate direct military actions by U.S. forces against the Syrian government and its allies in May–June 2017 and February 2018.

In mid-January 2018, the Trump administration indicated its intention to maintain an open-ended military presence in Syria to counter Iran's influence and oust Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.^[127] In early September 2018, the U.S. began implementing a new strategy that sought to indefinitely extend the military effort, launching a major diplomatic push to achieve American objectives in Syria.^[128] However, on 19 December, President Trump unilaterally ordered the withdrawal of the 2,000–2,500 American ground troops in Syria, which was set take place in a 90-day period to be completed in 2019. The announcement shifted the scope of American interests in the conflict from what was an increasingly open-ended presence to a sudden draw-down. The threat of a subsequent power vacuum from a premature U.S. pullout from Syria drew great concern from America's allies and officials, particularly regarding imperiling the Kurds in the face of Turkish opportunism, potentially giving Russia and Iran geopolitical wins, and the potential of allowing breathing room for extremist and terrorist groups operating in the country to regroup and reorganize.^[170]^[171]^[172]

After European allies refused to commit additional personnel to replace U.S. troops in Syria,^[129] and with proliferating concerns over the potential power vacuum, the U.S. announced on 22 February 2019 that instead of a total withdrawal, a contingency force of around 400 American troops would remain garrisoned in Syria indefinitely post-withdrawal, marking a return to a policy of open-ended military presence in the country.^[130]

Background

Following the start of the Arab Spring in 2011, protests in Syria against the Assad administration were violently suppressed and a civil war began.^[133] By 2012 there were several armed opposition groups operating in the country, including the Free Syrian Army, formed in July 2011 by officers who defected from the Syrian Armed Forces. In 2012, the al-Nusra Front was established by the Islamic State of Iraq as the official branch of al-Qaeda in Syria. The al-Nusra Front was eclipsed by its own creator, and al-Qaeda severed its ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in February 2014, after an eight-month power struggle.^[134]

Arming and training the Syrian opposition

At the direction of U.S. President Barack Obama, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was put in charge of the operations, worth about $1 billion annually, to arm anti-government forces in Syria,^[135]^[136]^[137]^[138] an operation which formally began in 2013, more than two years after the start of the civil war in 2011. Prior to 2013, the CIA only supplied certain rebel groups of the Free Syrian Army with non-lethal aid, but later began providing training, funding, and intelligence to selected rebel commanders.^[139]^[140]^[141] Although a former intelligence adviser who spoke to journalist Seymour Hersh claimed the CIA had been facilitating the flow of arms from Libya to Syria in collaboration with "the UK [United Kingdom], Saudi Arabia and Qatar" since 2012 or 2011,^[142] the first confirmed CIA weapons arrived in Spring 2014: "There were just a handful, delivered to only one rebel group carefully vetted by the CIA. The group, Harakat Hazm, or the Steadfast Movement, showed off the new weapons system by posting the first successful strike on YouTube in April.^[143] Another of the groups being vetted was the Islamist Army of Mujahedeen, formed in January 2014 specifically to combat ISIL.^[143]^[144] However, there were indications that the Army of Mujahedeen was still being vetted in September 2014.^[145]

In addition to the CIA program,^[191] on 17 September 2014 the U.S. House of Representatives voted to authorize the executive branch to overtly train and equip Syrian rebels against ISIL forces, at a cost of $500 million.^[146]^[147]^[148] The United States was set to send 400 troops and hundreds of support staff to countries neighboring Syria to train 5,000 opposition soldiers a year for the next three years.^[149] The countries taking part in the train-and-equip program were to include Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.^[196] The groups that were expected to be armed and trained by the US government included fighters from the Free Syrian Army.^[150] In October 2014, the Turkish government agreed to help train and equip some moderate Syrian rebels in Turkey.^[151] The Pentagon confirmed that it had selected 1,200 Syrian opposition members to begin training in March 2015, with 3,000 to complete training by the end of 2015.^[152]

The successful experience in Kobanî had informed U.S. policy in regard to arming Syrian opposition groups other than the Kurdish YPG, with plans to give other groups technicals equipped with radio and GPS equipment to call in airstrikes.^[153] John R. Allen, President Obama's envoy to the international coalition against ISIL, has said "It is clearly part of our plan, that not only we will train them, and we will equip them with the latest weapons systems, but we will also protect them when the time comes".^[154] In March 2015, the United Kingdom announced that it was sending around 75 military instructors to train Syrian opposition forces.^[155] The train-and-equip programme started on 9 May 2015.^[156] On 25 May, Turkey and the U.S. agreed "in principle" on the necessity to support these forces with air support.^[157]

However, only about 200 rebel fighters actually began training, the majority of whom left after being required to agree to fight only against ISIL and not the Assad government.^[158]

July 2014 rescue mission

Following the abduction of a number of foreigners in Syria, on 4 July 2014, the U.S. carried out an operation to rescue foreign hostages being held by ISIL. U.S. airstrikes were conducted against an ISIL military base known as the "Osama bin Laden Camp" while at the same time, two dozen US special forces soldiers parachuted from helicopters near an ISIS building, thought to be for high-value prisoners. No prisoners were found in the building and the soldiers were quickly engaged by ISIL forces dispatched from Raqqa, which started a three-hour firefight.^[159] U.S. forces concluded that the hostages were no longer at the site and abandoned the rescue attempt. At least five ISIL fighters were killed and one U.S. soldier was wounded. Jordanian forces were also reportedly involved in the operation, with one Jordanian soldier reportedly wounded, but Jordanian involvement was not confirmed. Later on, it was reported that the hostages had been moved 24 hours before the attempted rescue.^[159] Following the mission, it was still unclear whether the operation failed due to bad intelligence or whether ISIL forces were alerted in advance of the mission.^[160]

In the aftermath of the rescue mission, and purportedly as a response to airstrikes in Iraq, ISIL beheaded three hostages over a one-month period: Americans James Foley^[159] and Steven Sotloff on 19 August and 2 September respectively,^[161] and Briton David Haines on 13 September.^[162]

Surveillance flights over Syria

On 26 August 2014, the U.S. began sending surveillance flights, including drones, over Syria to gather intelligence on ISIL targets. The flights began gathering intelligence that would aid future airstrikes even though airstrikes were not yet authorized at that point.^[163] No approval was sought from the Assad government for flights entering Syrian airspace.^[164]

Support for Kurdish-led ground forces

As the Siege of Kobanî continued there were growing calls to also arm the YPG, also known as the People's Protection Units, a Kurdish fighting force in Syria heavily involved in the defense of Kobanî.^[165] On 20 October 2014, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that the Turkish government would be allowing peshmerga from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government to cross their border into Kobanî to support Kurdish fighters.^[166] The change in policy came after the Turkish government had refused to allow Kurdish fighters and supplies to pass through the border to YPG units in Kobanî, as it viewed the YPG as an offshoot of the PKK.^[167] On 28 October, Peshmerga from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government departed Erbil to travel to Turkey and eventually to Kobanî.^[168] A total of 152 soldiers were deployed starting with forty vehicles carrying weapons, artillery, and machine guns, along with 80 Peshmerga forces, who crossed the border into Turkey by land with the heavy weapons and then drove to the border near Kobanî.^[168] The other 72 soldiers in the contingent flew to Turkey and rejoined the rest of the contingent on 29 October.^[168] On 29 October 152 Kurdish Peshmerga from Iraq and 50 Free Syrian Army fighters crossed the border into Kobanî with heavy weapons, small arms, and ammunition.^[169]^[170]

On 20 October 2014 the United States began airdropping supplies to Syrian Kurdish forces, including the YPG, in Kobanî.^[171] The Kurdish forces there have been engaged in battle with ISIL during the Siege of Kobanî. Prior to 20 October, the United States and its coalition partners fighting against ISIL in Syria, had not provided any supplies to Kurdish forces in their fight against ISIL.^[171] Much of the reason for US having to airdrop supplies was due to the Turkish government's refusal to allow supplies to pass through their border into Kobanî. The U.S. specifically airdropped weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies supplied by Iraqi Kurdistan specifically to supply the Kurdish forces in Syria.^[171] On 21 October, a video was released by ISIL showing what it claimed was a bundle of airdropped small arms, ammunition, and other supplies from the United States. The Pentagon said it was analyzing the video and could not at the time confirm whether the video was authentic but that the materials were similar and video would be analyzed by the Department of Defense to analyze its authenticity.^[172] On 22 October, the Pentagon confirmed that one of the airdrops had been intercepted by ISIL but that it most likely would not give ISIL any real advantage in their operations.^[173]

U.S.-led coalition against ISIL

The United States had since 2014 led efforts to establish a global coalition to counter ISIL.^[174]

On 5 September, 15 September,^[175] and 3 December 2014, various sets of countries came together to discuss concerted action against ISIL. Present at all three meetings were the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey and Denmark.

The coalition of 5 September (10 countries) decided to support anti-ISIL forces in Iraq and Syria.^[176] On 10 September 2014, U.S. president Barack Obama announced a ″comprehensive″ strategy to counter ISIL that ″in concert with

The coalition of 3 December 2014 (sixty countries) that styled itself as the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)^[178] agreed on a many-sided strategy against ISIL, including cutting off ISIL's financing and funding and exposing ISIL's true nature.^[178] As of March 2015, the U.S.-led coalition comprised over sixty countries, that contributed in various ways to the effort.^[174]

Training Syrian moderate opposition to fight ISIL

As of mid-2015, only a group of 54 such fighters (Division 30) had been deployed, which was quickly routed by al-Nusra,^[179] and a further 100 trained in Jordan.^[180] In September it was reported that a further 100-120 were being trained in a second wave,^[181] with 75 more Division 30 fighters reported to have re-entered Syria at the end of the month, immediately attacked by al-Nusra.^[182]

In March 2015, the United Kingdom announced that it would provide military training to Syrian moderate opposition forces, to enable them to defend Syrian communities against ISIL, and later also lead offensives against ISIL.^[183]

It was reported in July 2017 that the Donald Trump administration decided to "phase-out" the CIA program to equip and train anti-government rebel groups.^[189]^[190]^[191]

Multinational air war

Preparations for American airstrikes

In his address to the nation on 10 September 2014, U.S. President Obama announced his intention to bomb ISIL targets in Syria and called on Congress to authorize a program to train and arm rebels who were fighting ISIL and the Syrian forces of Bashar al-Assad.^[192] For the first time, he authorized direct attacks against the militant group in Syria. In his address, he said the United States were going on offensive, launching "a steady, relentless effort to take out" the group "wherever they exist." Obama also announced creating of a broader coalition against ISIL.^[193]

Commenting on Obama's address, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman {{Interlanguage link multi|Alexander Lukashevich|2=ru|3=Лукашевич, Александр Казимирович|preserve=1}} opposed the U.S. intervention against ISIL in Syria "without the consent of the legitimate government" and said that "this step, in the absence of a UN Security Council decision, would be an act of aggression, a gross violation of international law". Ali Haidar, Syrian minister of national reconciliation, said that "any action of any kind without the consent of the Syrian government would be an attack on Syria".^[194]

On 17 September, the U.S. House of Representatives approved Obama's plan to train and arm the Syrian rebels in their fight against ISIL. In a statement following the House vote, Obama said that the United States would not send military troops to Syria.^[195] The Senate gave final congressional approval to Obama's proposal the next day.^[196]

The U.S. did not request permission from the Syrian government, nor did it coordinate its actions with the Syrian government, provide direct notification to the Syrian military or give indication of timing on specific targets, but it did notify the Syrian U.N. representative, which the Syrian government confirmed.^[197]

Before the airstrikes began, the United States also informed Iran, the Assad government's largest regional ally, of their intention to launch airstrikes. It did not share specific timing or targets of strikes with the Iranian government but reportedly assured it that the US would not strike any Syrian government targets.^[198]

Contributing countries

Timeline

2014

September 2014 — Airstrikes begin

On 22 September, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby confirmed that the United States and other partner nations had undertaken strikes in Syria using fighters, bombers, and Tomahawk missiles in strikes authorized by President Barack Obama.^[200] Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were identified as countries conducting or supporting airstrikes the first night.^[16] The initial strikes were coordinated by United States Central Command^[18] and targeted about 20 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant targets, including headquarters buildings.^[201] Sources in Syria claimed that among the targets was also Brigade 93, a Syrian army base that the militants had recently captured and targets in the towns of Tabqa and Tel Abyad in Raqqa Province.^[202]

The U.S. also targeted the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front and the Khorasan Group^[203] in the Aleppo and Idlib Governorates of Syria.^[204]

At least 70 ISIL fighters, 50 fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda, and an unknown number of civilians were killed overnight by the airstrikes, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights while eight strikes were launched against the Khorasan group.^[206]

Syrian military radar was "passive" during the first air strikes, with no attempt to counter US aircraft.^[207] During the first night of airstrikes, the United States' force deployed with HARM missiles as a precaution, as it was uncertain how Syria's air-defense network would react.^[208]

On 24 September, the United States and coalition partners conducted a second round of airstrikes on ISIL facilities in Syria. The airstrikes were targeting oil production facilities controlled by ISIL who had been using the oil in order to fund their activities. Some targets were apparently also mobile production facilities which were most likely not refineries.^[209]

In a third round of airstrikes on ISIL targets on 25 September, Arab partners led the U.S. in strikes against militant-held oil facilities in northeastern Syria. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates dropped 80 percent of the bomb tonnage in the third round of strikes, compared to other strikes in which the United States lead Arab partners.^[210]

On 26 September, the U.S. carried out a fourth round of airstrikes on ISIL targets in Eastern Syria. The strikes were targeting ISIL heavy equipment and destroyed four of their tanks in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate.^[211]

In a fifth round of airstrikes in Syria on 27 September, the U.S. led strikes along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE against ISIL forces in the Kobanî Canton of Syrian Kurdistan. The strikes destroyed two armored vehicles and an unknown number of fighters in an area that had been under siege by ISIL militants. The siege by Islamic State fighters had recently forced over 100,000 Syrian Kurds to flee across the border to Turkey.^[212]

On 28 and 29 September, the U.S. carried out two rounds of strikes against ISIL positions across Syria in 4 provinces. Among the facilities targeted was the entrance to the largest gas plant in Syria, in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, and ISIL training camps and vehicles near an ISIL-controlled grain silo in Manbij.^[213]

October 2014

In an eighth round of airstrikes in Syria on 1 October, the U.S. and coalition partners struck ISIL targets in Northern Syria. The daytime strikes targeted ISIL forces laying siege to Kobanî, a primarily Kurdish city in Syrian Kurdistan, in support of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Free Syrian Army, who were defending the city.^[214]

On 2 October, the U.S. led a ninth round of strikes, along with the UAE, against ISIL forces across Syria. The strikes destroyed an ISIL checkpoint near Kobanî, damaged a tank north of Sinjar Mountain, destroyed a tank west of Raqqa, and destroyed several ISIL facilities east of Aleppo.^[215]

In a 10th round of airstrikes in Syria on 3 October, the U.S., assisted by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, struck ISIL forces in Northern and Eastern Syria. The strikes destroyed an ISIL garrison south of Al-Hasakah, destroyed two tanks southeast of Deir ez-Zor, destroyed two modular oil refineries and a training camp south of Raqqa, and struck an ISIL building northeast of Aleppo.^[216]

On 4 October, the U.S. led an 11th round of airstrikes, along with Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, against ISIL forces across Syria. The U.S. and partner nations carried out nine strikes, destroying an ISIL infantry unit, armored personnel carrier, and a vehicle south of Kobanî. They also destroyed a tank and a vehicle southeast of Deir ez-Zor, damaged the Tabqa airfield and destroyed an artillery piece near Raqqa, as well as an ISIL depot and logistics complex south of Al-Hasakah.^[217]

In a 12th round of airstrikes in Syria on 5 October, the U.S. carried out three airstrikes against ISIL forces in Central and Eastern Syria. The strikes destroyed an ISIL bulldozer, two ISIL tanks and another vehicle northwest of Mayadin, and destroyed six firing positions and a large ISIL unit northwest of Raqqa.^[218]

On 6 October, the U.S. carried out a 13th round of airstrikes in Syria against ISIL forces across Syria. The strikes destroyed an ISIL tank near Tabqa airfield west of Raqqa, destroyed two fighting positions south of Kobanî, and destroyed a tank southeast of Deir ez-Zor.^[219]

In a 14th round of airstrikes in Syria on 7 October, the U.S., assisted by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, carried out nine strikes damaging multiple ISIL-controlled buildings west of Al-Hasakah, damaging a staging area and IED production facility northeast of Deir ez-Zor, destroying three armed vehicles, damaging one armed vehicle, destroying a vehicle carrying anti-aircraft artillery, destroying an ISIL tank, and an ISIL unit in and around Kobanî, and killing a small group of fighters southwest of Rabiyah.^[220]

On 8 October, the U.S. led a 15th round of nine airstrikes along with the UAE, destroying an armored personnel carrier, four armed vehicles, an artillery piece, and damaged another armed vehicle in and around Kobanî, striking an ISIL training camp and fighters northwest of Raqqa, and destroying a tank northwest of Deir ez-Zor.^[221]

In a 16th round of airstrikes in Syria on 9 October, the U.S. carried out nine airstrikes in the areas in and around the besieged border town of Kobanî. The U.S. carried out six airstrikes south of Kobanî that destroyed two ISIL-held buildings, one tank and one heavy machine gun along, a fighting position along with one large and two small ISIL units. North of Kobanî, the U.S. struck two small ISIL units and destroyed two ISIL-held buildings.^[222]

On 10 October, the U.S. led a 17th round of airstrikes along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, carrying out nine strikes that destroyed two ISIL training facilities, three vehicles, damaging a tank and striking two ISIL units in and around Kobanî. The strikes also destroyed an armored vehicle staging facility east of Deir ez-Zor and struck a small ISIL unit northeast of Al-Hasakah.^[223]

In an 18th round of airstrikes in Syria on 11 October, the U.S. carried out six airstrikes in and around Kobanî. The U.S. carried out four strikes north of Kobanî striking a fighting position, damaging a command and control facility, destroying a staging building, and striking two small ISIL units. South of Kobanî, two airstrikes destroyed three trucks.^[224]

On 12 October, the U.S. led a 19th round of airstrikes along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, carrying out four strikes — three in Kobanî, destroying a fighting position and a staging area, and one strike northwest of Raqqa, destroying an armored vehicle compound.^[225] Also on 12 October, the U.S. announced that the Turkish government had approved the use of Turkish military bases by Coalition forces fighting ISIL in Syria and Iraq. These installations included key bases only {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} from the Syrian border and important U.S. military bases in Turkey such as the Incirlik Air Base.^[226]^[227] Despite the announcement of Turkish government approval, on 13 October, Turkish officials publicly denied that any agreement had been made over Coalition use of Turkish airbases, including Incirlik.^[228]

In a 20th round of airstrikes in Syria on 13 October, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia carried out eight airstrikes against ISIL forces. Seven of the strikes were in and around Kobanî, striking a large ISIL unit, two small units; damaging one staging location and destroying another, destroying a heavy-machine-gun firing position, destroying three buildings, and damaging two others. One other strike northwest of Raqqa struck an ISIL garrison.^[229]

On 14 October, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia carried out the 21st round and the largest set of strikes against ISIL in Syria since the beginning of the intervention, with 21 strikes against targets in and around Kobanî, and an additional strike near Deir ez-Zor. According to the Department of Defense, the strikes were designed to interdict ISIL reinforcements and resupply zones and prevent ISIL from massing combat power on the Kurdish-held portions of Kobanî. The strikes destroyed two staging locations and damaged another, destroyed one ISIL building and damaged two others, damaged three ISIL compounds, destroyed one truck, one armed vehicle, and one other vehicle near Kobanî in support of Kurdish forces resisting the |siege of the town. In addition to those targets, the airstrikes struck seven staging areas, two mortar positions, three ISIL occupied buildings, and an artillery storage facility. An additional strike near Deir ez-Zor struck a modular oil refinery.^[230]

In a 22nd round of airstrikes on 15 October, the U.S. carried out 18 strikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî. The strikes destroyed multiple fighting positions and also successfully struck sixteen ISIL-occupied buildings.^[231]

On 16 October, the U.S. carried out a 23rd round of airstrikes with 14 airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî striking 19 ISIL-controlled buildings, two command posts, three fighting positions, three sniper positions, one staging location, and one heavy machine gun position.^[232]

In a 24th round of airstrikes on 17 October, the U.S. carried out seven airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî and in north-eastern Syria. Six airstrikes took place near Kobanî, striking three ISIL-controlled buildings; they also destroyed two fighting positions, suppressed three fighting positions, and destroyed two vehicles. One other airstrike near Al-Shaddadi struck ISIL-controlled oil collection equipment, including several petroleum, oil, and lubricants tanks, and a pump station.^[233]

On 20 October, the U.S. carried out a 25th round of airstrikes, with six airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî. The strikes destroyed ISIL fighting positions, ISIL mortar positions, a vehicle, and one stray equipment supply bundle from a U.S. airdrop of Kurdish supplies in order to prevent the supplies from being captured.^[234]

In a 26th round of airstrikes on 21 October, the U.S. carried out four airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî. The strikes destroyed several ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL-controlled building, and a large ISIL unit.^[235] The British Royal Air Force began operating over Syria in a surveillance role on the same date, making the UK the first Western country other than the U.S. to operate in both Iraq and Syria simultaneously.^[236]

On 22 October, the U.S. carried out a 27th round of airstrikes with six airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî. The strikes destroyed several ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, an ISIL-controlled building and an ISIL logistical center.^[237]

In a 28th round of airstrikes on 23 October, the U.S. carried out six airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Deir ez-Zor. Four strikes destroyed several ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL vehicle, and an ISIL command and control center near Kobanî. Two strikes east of Deir ez-Zor destroyed several ISIL oil storage tanks.^[238]

On 24 October, the U.S. carried out a 29th round of airstrikes with six airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî. The strikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle and struck three ISIL units.^[239]

In a 30th round of airstrikes on 25 October, the U.S. carried out one strike near Kobanî, destroying an ISIL artillery piece.^[240]

On 26 October, the U.S. carried out its 31st round of airstrikes with five airstrikes against ISIL targets near Kobanî, destroying seven ISIL vehicles and an ISIL-controlled building.^[241]

In a 32nd round of airstrikes on 27 October, the U.S. carried out four strikes near Kobanî, destroying five ISIL vehicles and an ISIL-occupied building.^[242]

On 28 October, the U.S. carried out its 33rd round of airstrikes, with four airstrikes conducted against ISIL targets near Kobanî, destroying four ISIL fighting positions and a small ISIL unit.^[243]

In a 34th round of airstrikes on 29 October, the U.S. carried out eight airstrikes in and around Kobanî. The strikes destroyed five ISIL fighting positions, a small ISIL unit, six ISIL vehicles, an ISIL-controlled building, and an ISIL command and control node.^[244]

On 30 October, the U.S. carried out a 35th round of airstrikes, with 12 airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî, and against targets near Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa. 10 strikes near Kobanî struck two small ISIL units, destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions, and five ISIL-controlled buildings. One strike near Deir ez-Zor damaged an ISIL headquarters building while another strike near Raqqa damaged an ISIL security building.^[245]

In a 36th round of airstrikes on 31 October, the U.S. carried out four airstrikes in and around Kobanî, damaging four ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL controlled building.^[246]

Naming of Operation Inherent Resolve

Unlike previous U.S. combat operations, no name had been given to the American intervention in Syria and Iraq until it was announced in mid-October that the operational name would be Inherent Resolve.^[247]^[248] The decision to keep the conflict nameless drew considerable media criticism.^[249]^[250]

November 2014

On 1 November, the U.S. carried out a 37th round of airstrikes with five airstrikes against ISIL targets in and around Kobanî. The strikes suppressed or destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions, and struck one ISIL-controlled building.^[251]

In a 38th round of airstrikes on 2 November, the U.S. carried out seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Deir ez-Zor. Five airstrikes in and around Kobanî struck five small ISIL units and destroyed three ISIL vehicles. Two airstrikes southeast of Deir ez-Zor destroyed an ISIL tank and two vehicle shelters.^[251]

On 3 November, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 39th round of airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Deir ez-Zor. Four airstrikes in and around Kobanî struck an ISIL fighting position, a small ISIL unit, and destroyed two ISIL-controlled buildings. One airstrike near Deir ez-Zor damaged an ISIL-controlled building.^[251]

In a 40th round of airstrikes on 4 and 5 November, the U.S. carried out six airstrikes in and around Kobanî and north of Sinjar just across the Iraq-Syria border. Three airstrikes in and around Kobanî struck a small ISIL unit, two ISIL fighting positions, and an ISIL dump truck that was used in the construction of fighting positions. One airstrike north of Sinjar destroyed an ISIL fighting position, used to launch mortar attacks, and struck a small ISIL unit manning the position. Two additional strikes north of Sinjar struck a small ISIL unit and destroyed an ISIL armored vehicle.^[252]

On 6 and 7 November, the U.S. carried out a 41st round of airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Tell Abyad. Seven strikes in and around Kobanî struck three small ISIL units, seven ISIL fighting positions, and destroyed an ISIL artillery piece. One airstrike near Tell Abyad destroyed an ISIL weapons stockpile.^[253]

In a 42nd round of airstrikes between 8 and 10 November, the U.S. carried out 23 airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Deir ez-Zor. 13 airstrikes conducted in and around Kobanî struck an ISIL vehicle and five small ISIL units, destroyed an ISIL-occupied building used as an ammunition stockpile, an ISIL command and control building, and seven ISIL fighting positions, as well as damaging two ISIL fighting positions. In addition, eight airstrikes southeast of Deir ez-Zor damaged several structures of an ISIL oil collection facility, which was used to trans-load oil for the black market, while two airstrikes east of Deir ez-Zor damaged an ISIL oil collection point.^[254]

Between 11 and 12 November, the U.S. carried out a 43rd round of airstrikes with 16 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Deir ez-Zor, and near Al-Hasakah. 10 airstrikes conducted in and around Kobanî struck eight small ISIL units, damaged three ISIL fighting positions, and destroyed an ISIL logistics facility. Four airstrikes near Deir ez-Zor damaged an ISIL crude oil collection facility, struck a small ISIL unit, and damaged an ISIL vehicle. Two airstrikes near Al-Hasakah damaged a crude oil collection point.^[255]

In a 44th round of airstrikes between 13 and 14 November, the U.S. carried out 20 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, east of Deir ez-Zor, west of Aleppo, and east of Raqqa. 17 airstrikes conducted in and around Kobanî struck ten ISIL units, destroyed 10 fighting positions, an ISIL controlled building, two ISIL vehicles, and an ISIL motorcycle. One airstrike east of Raqqa destroyed an ISIL training camp and another airstrike east of Deir ez-Zor destroyed an ISIL oil collection point. One other airstrike west of Aleppo struck militants associated with the Khorasan group.^[256]

Between 15 and 17 November, the U.S. carried out a 45th round of airstrikes with 11 airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Deir ez-Zor. Nine airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions, suppressed an ISIL fighting position, destroyed four ISIL staging areas, and struck one tactical ISIL unit. Two airstrikes near Deir ez-Zor struck an ISIL crude oil collection facility and destroyed one ISIL tank.^[251]

In a 46th round of airstrikes between 18 and 19 November, the U.S. carried out seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî, southeast of Al-Hasakah, and near Hazm. Five airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed an ISIL fighting position, an ISIL staging area and three ISIL controlled buildings, suppressed two ISIL fighting positions, struck two tactical ISIL units, and a large ISIL unit. One airstrike southeast of Al-Hasakah damaged a crude oil collection point operated by ISIL while another airstrike near Hazm struck and destroyed a storage facility associated with the Khorasan Group.^[257]

Between 20 and 21 November, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 47th round of airstrikes with seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Raqqa. Six airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed four ISIL staging areas, two ISIL-controlled buildings, two ISIL tactical units, and suppressed an ISIL fighting position. One airstrike near Raqqa damaged an ISIL barracks building.^[251]

In a 48th round of airstrikes between 22 and 24 November, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out nine airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Raqqa. Seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed three ISIL fighting positions along with two ISIL staging areas, damaged an ISIL staging area, and suppressed four ISIL fighting positions. Two strikes near Raqqa struck an ISIL headquarters building.^[258]

Between 25 and 26 November, the U.S. carried out a 49th round of airstrikes with 10 airstrikes in and around Kobanî striking an ISIL fighting position, a large ISIL unit, two tactical ISIL units, and destroying four ISIL staging areas and six ISIL fighting positions.^[259]

In a 50th round of airstrikes between 27 and 28 November, the U.S. carried out two airstrikes near Kobanî and Aleppo. One airstrike near Kobanî struck an ISIL fighting position and an ISIL staging area while one airstrike near Aleppo struck a tactical ISIL unit.^[251]

Between 29 November and 1 December, the U.S. carried out a 51st round of airstrikes with 27 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Raqqa, and near Aleppo. 17 airstrikes near Kobanî destroyed two ISIL-occupied buildings, three ISIL tanks, three ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL armored personnel carrier, three ISIL vehicles and two ISIL staging areas. It also struck seven tactical ISIL units, targeted six ISIL fighting positions and damaged an ISIL-controlled building. Nine airstrikes near Raqqa struck an ISIL electronic warfare garrison, an ISIL military garrison, an ISIL headquarters building, an ISIL jamming system, an ISIL tank and 14 ISIL vehicles while one airstrike near Aleppo struck a target associated with the Khorasan Group.^[260]

December 2014

In a 52nd round of airstrikes between 1 and 3 December, the U.S. carried out 14 airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroying an ISIL vehicle, 17 ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL staging area, and suppressed eight other fighting positions and stuck a large ISIL unit.^[261]

Between 4 and 8 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 53rd round of airstrikes with 15 airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Raqqa. 15 airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed four ISIL fighting positions, three ISIL-occupied buildings, two ISIL staging areas, two ISIL tanks, an ISIL motorcycle, a mortar, and struck eight tactical ISIL units along with two ISIL fighting positions. One airstrike near Raqqa struck an ISIL electronic warfare garrison.^[262]

In a 54th round of airstrikes between 9 and 10 December, the U.S. carried out seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî, destroying five ISIL fighting positions, striking three ISIL fighting positions, and striking a large ISIL unit.^[263]

Between 11 and 12 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 55th round of airstrikes with seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Aleppo, and near Al-Qa'im, Iraq. Five airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed five ISIL fighting positions and struck one ISIL fighting position. One airstrike near Aleppo struck five ISIL-occupied buildings while another airstrike near Al-Qa'im on the Syrian border destroyed two ISIL fortifications.^[264]

In a 56th round of airstrikes between 13 and 15 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out nine airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Abu Kamal. Eight airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed nine ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL-controlled buildings, and two ISIL staging positions as well as striking one ISIL fighting position. One airstrike near Abu Kamal destroyed an ISIL vehicle.^[265]

Between 16 and 17 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 57th round of airstrikes with six airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Abu Kamal. Five airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed an ISIL controlled building, one ISIL staging area, one ISIL bunker, and an ISIL mortar, and struck two ISIL tactical units, two additional buildings, and two ISIL fighting positions. One airstrike near Abu Kamal destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle.^[266]

In a 58th round of airstrikes on 18 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out six airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroying seven ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL building, and struck a tactical unit.^[267]

On 19 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 59th round of airstrikes with four strikes in and around Kobanî and near Raqqa. Three airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed two ISIL controlled buildings and an ISIL staging area as well as striking two ISIL tactical units. One airstrike near Raqqa damaged an ISIL training compound.^[268]

In a 60th round of airstrikes on 20 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out five airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroying eight ISIL fighting positions.^[251] On 21 December, the Coalition carried out a 61st round of airstrikes with three strikes in and around Kobanî destroying an ISIL staging position and two ISIL fighting positions as well as striking two ISIL fighting positions.^[251]

In a 62nd round of airstrikes on 22 December, the Coalition carried out 12 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Aleppo, near Al-Hasakah, and near Raqqa. Six airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed six ISIL fighting positions and struck four ISIL fighting positions and an ISIL tactical unit. Three airstrikes near Aleppo destroyed artillery equipment and struck 10 ISIL buildings; two airstrikes near Al-Hasakah destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle, two ISIL trucks, a building, and two ISIL storage containers, and one airstrike near Raqqa destroyed an ISIL checkpoint complex.^[269]

On 23 December, the Coalition carried out a 63rd round of airstrikes with seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî. Six airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed seven ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL building and struck several ISIL fighting positions and one airstrike near Barghooth struck ISIL oil collection equipment.^[270]

In a 64th round of airstrikes on 24 December, the Coalition carried out ten airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Deir ez-Zor, and near Raqqa. Eight airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed five ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL building, an ISIL staging position, and struck three ISIL tactical units, an ISIL tactical vehicle and an ISIL fighting position. One airstrike near Deir ez-Zor struck a crude oil collection point and another airstrike near Raqqa struck an ISIL weapons stockpile.^[251]

On 25 December, the Coalition carried out a 65th round of airstrikes with 15 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Al-Hasakah, and near Raqqa. 13 airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed three ISIL buildings, one vehicle, 17 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL staging positions as well as striking two ISIL fighting positions, three large ISIL units and four ISIL tactical units. One airstrike near Al-Hasakah struck an ISIL drilling tower and destroyed two support vehicles and another airstrike near Raqqa struck an ISIL assembly area.^[251]

In a 66th round of airstrikes on 26 December, the Coalition carried out four airstrikes in and around Kobanî, destroying three ISIL buildings and two ISIL vehicles.^[251] On 29 December, the Coalition carried out a 67th round of airstrikes with 12 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Deir ez-Zor, and near Raqqa. 10 airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed 11 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL buildings, and an ISIL storage container, and struck an ISIL tactical unit. One airstrike near Deir ez-Zor struck several ISIL-controlled buildings while another airstrike near Raqqa also struck several ISIL-controlled buildings.^[271]

In a 68th round of airstrikes on 30 December, the Coalition carried out seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Deir ez-Zor. Six airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed three ISIL buildings, damaged one ISIL building, and struck an ISIL tactical unit while one airstrike near Deir ez-Zor destroyed an ISIL shipping container.^[272]

On 31 December, the U.S. and coalition partners carried out a 69th round of airstrikes with seven airstrikes in and around Kobanî and near Al-Hasakah. Five airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed five ISIL buildings and six ISIL fighting positions while two airstrikes near Al-Hasakah destroyed four oil derricks controlled by ISIL.^[273]

2015

January 2015

In a 70th round of airstrikes on 1 January, the Coalition carried out 17 airstrikes in and around Kobanî, near Deir ez-Zor, and near Raqqa. 13 airstrikes in and around Kobanî destroyed 12 ISIL controlled buildings, four ISIL fighting positions, one ISIL vehicle as well as striking two ISIL tactical units and two large ISIL units. Two airstrikes near Raqqa destroyed five ISIL checkpoints and struck an ISIL staging area, while two airstrikes near Deir ez-Zor destroyed an ISIL fighting position and struck an ISIL shipping container.^[251]

February 2015 – Al-Hasakah offensive

On 5 February 2015, Jordan elevated its role in the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, launching one of the largest airstrike campaigns since early January 2015, targeting ISIL militants near Raqqa, the then-de facto ISIL capital, inflicting an unknown number of casualties and damaging ISIL facilities. This was done in retaliation against ISIL's brutal murder of Muath al-Kasasbeh.^[275]^[276]

On 6 February, a continued round of Coalition airstrikes at Raqqa killed over 30 ISIL militants.^[277]

On 21 February, Syrian Kurds launched an offensive to retake ISIL-held territories in the Al-Hasakah Governorate, specifically in the Tell Hamis area, with support from U.S. airstrikes. At least 20 villages were liberated, and 12 militants were killed in the clashes.^[278] In response, on 23 February, ISIL abducted 150 Assyrian Christians from villages near Tell Tamer in northeastern Syria, after launching a large offensive in the region.^[279]^[280]

As a result of ISIL's massive offensive in the west Al-Hasakah Governorate, the U.S.-led Coalition increased the number of airstrikes in the region to 10, on 24 February, in order to halt the ISIL advance. The airstrikes struck nine ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL vehicles.^[251]

On 26 February, the number of Assyrian Christians abducted by ISIL from villages in northeastern Syria from 23–25 February rose to at least 220, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a monitoring group based in Britain.^[281]^[282]

On 27 February, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Kurdish fighters had recaptured the town of Tell Hamis, along with most of the villages occupied by ISIL in the region. At least 127 ISIL militants were killed in the clashes, along with 30 YPG and allied fighters.^[283] One Australian volunteer, who was fighting for the YPG, was also killed.^[284] Many of the remaining ISIL militants retreated to Tell Brak, which quickly came under assault from the YPG and allied Arab fighters.

March-April 2015 – Battle of Sarrin and expanded Canadian and U.K. efforts

On 1 March 2015, YPG fighters, aided by U.S. airstrikes, were able to drive ISIL militants out of Tell Brak, reducing the ISIL occupation in the eastern Jazira Canton to the villages between Tell Brak and Tell Hamis.^[285]

On 6 March, it was reported that Abu Humam al-Shami, al-Nusra's military chief, was killed in a U.S. airstrike targeting a meeting of top al-Nusra leaders, at the al-Nusra Front's new headquarters at Salqin.^[47]

On 9 March, the U.S. carried out another airstrike on the al-Nusra Front, targeting a military camp near Atimah, close to the Turkish border in the Idlib Governorate. The airstrike left nine militants dead.^[286]

On 24 March, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada would be looking to expand Operation Impact to include airstrikes against ISIL in Syria as well.

On 26 March, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence announced the deployment of around 75 military trainers and headquarter staff to Turkey and other nearby countries in the anti-ISIL coalition, to assist with the U.S.-led training programme in Syria. The programme was set to provide small arms, infantry tactics and medical training to Syrian moderate opposition forces for over three years.^[183]

On 30 March, the House of Commons of Canada authorized the extended deployment of its military for one year and to conduct operations related to the war in Syria.^[287]

On 8 April, Canada initiated airstrikes in Syria, with two CF-18 fighters bombing a former military installation of the Syrian government that was captured by ISIL, near its headquarters in Raqqa.^[287]

May 2015 – Al-Amr special forces raid

On 15 May, after surveillance by British special forces confirmed the presence of a senior ISIL leader named Abu Sayyaf in al-Amr,^[288] 1st SFOD-Delta operators from the Joint Special Operations Command based in Iraq conducted an operation to capture him. The operation resulted in his death when he tried to engage U.S. forces in combat and the capture of his wife Umm Sayyaf. The operation also led to the freeing of a Yazidi woman who was held as a slave. About a dozen ISIL fighters were also killed in the raid, two U.S. officials said. The SOHR reported that an additional 19 ISIL fighters were killed in the U.S. airstrikes that accompanied the raid. One official said that ISIL Forces fired at the U.S. aircraft, and there was reportedly hand-to-hand combat during the raid. UH-60 Black Hawk and V-22 Osprey helicopters were used to conduct the raid, and Umm Sayyaf was held by U.S. forces in Iraq.^[362]^[363]

Coalition air support was decisive in the YPG victory over ISIL in the May 2015 Western al-Hasakah offensive.

June–July 2015

US air support, particularly from the 9th Bomb Squadron, was decisive in the YPG victory over ISIL in the Battle of Sarrin (June–July 2015).^[290] Coalition air support was decisive in the YPG/FSA victory over ISIL in the Tell Abyad offensive.^[291]

Following a suicide bombing in the Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey believed to have been carried out by ISIL militants on 20 July, as well as an ISIL cross-border attack that killed a Turkish serviceman on 23 July, Turkish armour and aircraft struck ISIL targets just across the border in Syria. Turkey also agreed to let the United States use the USAF Incirlik Air Base for strikes against ISIL.^[292]^[293]

August-October 2015

On 21 August, three Islamic State fighters, two with UK nationality, were targeted and killed in Raqqa, Syria by a British Royal Air Force MQ-9 Reaper strike. Prime Minister David Cameron gave a statement to Parliament that one of the British nationals targeted had been plotting attacks in the United Kingdom. Another British national was killed in a separate air strike by US forces in Raqqa on 24 August.^[294]

In October, 50 U.S. Special forces operators were deployed to northern Syria to help train and coordinate anti-IS forces in the region.^[295]

The introduction of Russian aircraft and ship based cruise missiles in support of the Syrian Government to Syrian airspace creates new threats to the US-led coalition. Discussions are held to deconflict Syrian airspace.

On 10 October, the state run Syrian Arab News Agency reported claims that two U.S. General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon jets had "violated Syrian airspace" and bombed two electricity power plants in al-Rudwaniya, east Aleppo, "in breach of international law".^[296]

On 20 October Canada's Prime Minister elect Justin Trudeau informed Barack Obama by phone of Canada's intention to pull out of bombing raids in Syria. Canada will remain a coalition partner but will stop strikes.^[297]

November-December 2015

After the deadly attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande sent its only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, with its 26 fighters to intensify air strikes.^[298]

On 27 November, Syrian Arab News Agency claimed that the US-led international coalition, allegedly fighting ISIS, targeted water pumping stations in al-Khafseh area, east of Aleppo, causing them to go out of service.^[299]^[300] According to Bellingcat's investigation, however, it was Russian MoD bombing^[301]

On 2 December 2015, the Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom voted 397 to 223 in favour of airstrikes in Syria.^[302] Within hours, RAF Tornado jets carried out their first air strikes, targeting the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria, which is under IS control.^[303]

On 6 December, a Syrian Arab Army base at Deir ez-Ezzor was struck, killing at least 1 Syrian Arab Army soldier, with reports circulating that as many as 4 were killed, 13 wounded and 2 tanks destroyed. Syria accused the US of conducting the strike, however US officials denied this, claiming instead that the bombing was a mistake by Russians.^[304] After the airstrikes, the SAA reported that ISIS forces began to attack the base.^[305]

2016

March-April 2016 – Continued special forces operations

On 4 March, a US-led Coalition airstrike targeted Omar al-Shishani, ISIL's top field commander, who was travelling in a jihadist's convoy near al-Shaddadi in northeastern Syria; the strike injured him, and he later died from his injuries,^[306]^[307]^[308] However this was later revealed to be incorrect, he was actually killed in an airstrike in Iraq in July 2016.^[309]

Also that day, 100 ISIS militants assaulted Peshmerga lines in Syria, U.S. Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV helped the Peshmerga to repel the attack, as ISIS fighters sent a car bomb towards him, Keating led a team to counterattack with sniper and rocket fire. For his actions during the battle he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.^[310]

On 24 March, U.S. special operations forces conducted an operation with the intent of capturing Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli in Syria. Al-Qaduli, who was the 6th-most-wanted terrorist in the world and is considered by analysts as the second-in-command of ISIS, he acted as the group's finance minister and was involved in external plots, he also temporarily commanded ISIS after its commander was injured. U.S. special forces inserted by helicopter and lay in wait for him to intercept his vehicle; the operators attempted to capture him but the situation escalated and at the last moment, they decided to fire on the vehicle instead, killing al-Qaduli and 3 other militants.^[306]^[307]^[311]^[312]

On 25 April, it was reported that President Obama authorized the deployment of an additional 250 Special Operations Forces soldiers to Syria in the following weeks, they will join the 50 that are already in the country, their main aim is to advise, assist and expand the ongoing effort to bring more Syrian Arab fighters into units the U.S. supports in northern Syria to combat ISIL.^[313]^[314]

May 2016

In late May, more than a dozen U.S. Special Forces were pictured in the village of Fatisah, less than {{convert|40|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} north of Raqqa, and fighting near the front lines with the YPG and wearing both YPG and US insignia on their military uniforms; helping them and other local SDF forces with fire support and coordinating airstrikes from behind the front lines in their advance toward Raqqa. However, the Pentagon and White House insist that the troops are not fighting ISIS on the front lines and are still participating in a non-combat mission known as "train, advise and assist."^[315]^[316]^[317]

Also in late May, a U.S. special forces operator was wounded north of Raqqa by indirect IS rocket or mortar fire.^[318]^[319]

The telegraph reported that British special forces have been operating on the frontline in Syria; in particular in May when they frequently crossed the border from Jordan to defend a NSA (New Syrian Army) unit composed of former Syrian special forces as it defends the village of al-Tanf against ISIL attacks. They mostly help the unit with logistics like building defences and making bunkers safe, the NSA captured the village that month and faced regular IS attacks, an ISIL armoured vehicle packed with explosives drove into the rebels' base and killed 11 members of the NSA, injuring 17 others. The wounded were CASEVAC'd by US helicopters to Jordan; the suicide attack damaged the structure of the al-Tanf base, British troops crossed over from Jordan to help them to rebuild their defences.^[320]^[321]

June 2016 – Kurdish offensive to take Manbij

On 1 June, a senior defense official told Fox News that a "thousands"-strong SDF force consisting of Sunni Arab fighter and a small contingent of Kurdish fighters (mainly from the YPG) with assistance by U.S. special forces operators and U.S. fighter jets launched an operation to recapture the key ISIS-held town of Manbij in northern Syria, {{convert|20|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} from the border with Turkey. Islamic State used the town to move supplies and foreign fighters into Syria from Turkey, in the 24 hours since the start of offensive, 18 U.S. airstrikes destroyed ISIS headquarters buildings, weapons caches, training areas, six bridges and an unknown number of ISIS fighters were killed, however 15 civilians killed.^[318]^[322] By 9 June, The U.S. Central Command said the coalition conducted more than 105 strikes in support of the SDF's advance, French special forces are also offering training and advice to SDF fighters in the area.^[323] On 15 June, British special forces were reported to be operating in the area, much of the SDF advance was made possible by US-led coalition air support, with air strikes being directed by foreign special forces personnel on the ground.^[324]

On 3 June, F/A-18 Hornets launched from {{USS|Harry S. Truman}} conducted air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria from the eastern Mediterranean. It was the first time the U.S. Navy had conducted strike missions in the Middle East from the Mediterranean Sea since flying operations against the Iraqi military in 2003.^[325]

On 9 June, four U.S. special operations troops were "lightly" wounded by shrapnel when an Islamic State anti-tank missile fired at a nearby vehicle exploded in northern Syria, but they quickly returned to duty.^[326]^[327]^[328]

On 16 June, as part of Russia's campaign to pressure the US to agree to closer cooperation over Syria, Russian military aircraft bombed, with cluster bombs, a military outpost in al-Tanf that was garrisoned by the New Syrian Army in south east Syria. US and British special forces based in Jordan regularly worked with Syrian rebels at the al-Tanf outpost, the airstrike happened 24 hours after a detachment of 20 British special forces left the outpost. After the airstrike took place, US commanders warned Russia that the garrison was part of the international coalition against IS and therefore shouldn't be attacked, but 90 minutes later, nearby US warplanes observed Russian jets dropping a second barrage of bombs on the outpost, killing 4 rebel soldiers. A US spy plane overhead tried to contact the Russian pilots on emergency frequencies, but the Russians did not answer. US officials demanded an explanation from Moscow, but they were told the Russian pilots struck the outpost because they thought it was ISIL base, Russian officials then said that Jordan had approved the strikes in advance, but Jordan denied it. Moscow also claimed its air command headquarters in Syria was unable to call off the strikes because the US had not given them the precise position of the outpost.^[329]^[330]

On 29 June, as part of the 2016 Abu Kamal offensive — the offensive by the New Syrian Army and several hundred other rebels from different factions that aims to capture Abu Kamal and sever ISISs transit link between Syria and Iraq; Pentagon-trained rebel forces entered the al-Hamdan air base — {{convert|3|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on|0}} northwest of the border town Abu Kamal following intense clashes. This followed significant advances into ISIL-held territory near the Abu Kamal border crossing, the NSA (New Syrian Army) said it had captured a number of IS positions on the outskirts of Abu Kamal, but a raid into the town at dawn was reported to have been repelled by militants. Fighting continued around the town, as coalition airstrikes were carried out on IS hidehouts; the NSA also said it was co-ordinating the assault with Iraqi government forces, who were advancing on the border from the other side. NSA issued a statement saying "the NSA maintains control of the desert, the approaches to Abu Kamal, and maintains freedom of manoeuvre". later on that day, IS militants ambushed the rebels, inflicting heavy casualties and seizing weapons according to a rebel source. IS retook the airbase from the NSA and continued to advance against the rebels, recapturing some of the outposts the NSA had captured south of the town; coalition helicopters dropped in "foreign" airborne troops on the southern edge of Abu Kamal to help the rebels in their advance, coalition jets also carried out 8 airstrikes on IS targets in the Abu Kamal area.^[331]^[332]^[333]^[334] A contributing reasons for the failure of the operation was the withdrawing of air support at a critical moment, the aircraft assigned to the operation were ordered in the middle of the operation to leave the area and instead fly to the outskirts of Fallujah, where a large convoy of IS fighters had been seen trying to escape across the desert after the city was recaptured by the Iraqi army, and U.S. commanders decided that the convoy represented a "strategic target." The convoy was destroyed by the U.S. and British planes along with gunships and aircraft from the Iraqi air force.^[335]

August 2016 – Operation Euphrates Shield

On 7 August, as part of Operation Tidal Wave II, "Multiple" coalition warplanes destroyed some 83 oil tankers used by the Islamic State near Abu Kamal.^[336]

On 30 August, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Al-Bab, the New York Times reported that he was travelling in a vehicle that was destroyed by the drone. CNN reported that Al-Adnani was a key deputy to IS's leader, he also acted as the principal architect in ISIS'S external operations and as the group's spokesman, he coordinated the movements of their fighters - directly encouraging them to carryout lone-wolf attacks on civilians and military targets. It marked the highest-profile killing of an ISIS member.^[338]^[339]^[340]

September-October 2016

On 8 September, an airstrike allegedly carried out by the United States, killed Abu Hajer al-Homsi (nom de guerre Abu Omar Saraqib), the top military commander of the renamed al-Nusra Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, in the countryside of the Aleppo Governorate. Abu Hajer al-Homsi was one of the founding members of the al-Nusra Front and had taken part in the Iraq War against the US when he was part of the processor organization al-Qaeda in Iraq.^[48] The Pentagon denied carrying out the strike and instead claimed Russia was responsible.^[341]

On 16 September, CNN reported that Up to 40 US Special Operations Forces are accompanying Turkish troops and vetted Syrian opposition forces as they clear ISIS from northern Syria, the mission was called Operation Noble Lance was authorised that week and is now underway. The US personnel will be conducting the same type of advising, assisting and training missions that the US had been providing to moderate opposition to local anti-ISIS forces.^[337] The Washington Post reported that the contingent of Special Operations forces assisting the Turkish and Syrian forces around the cities of Jarabulus and Al-Rai was sent at the request of the Turkish government.^[342]

On 17 September, two US planes A-10, two Danish F-16 and a UK Reaper drone^[343]^[344] mistakenly bombed a Syrian Army base in the city of Deir ez-Zor which is besieged by ISIL. More than 62 soldiers were killed and at least 100 were wounded in the airstrike.^[345]^[346] ISIL forces attacked immediately after air-strike and took the local high point (with strategic importance) near Deir ez-Zor air-base: the Tharda (Thurda) mountain. According to Russian and government sources, SAA forces made a counter-attack (supported by Russian\\Syrian air-strikes) and recapture the Tharda mountain by the end of the day, suffering additional losses (including one Syrian jet fighter).^[347]^[348]

Russian officials accused USA in helping the ISIL by the air-raid.^[352] Russia has called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the airstrike and the US temporarily ceased air-strikes in the area.^[353] In response to the errant airstrike, the Syrian Armed Forces called it a "serious and blatant attack on Syria and its military".^[353]

On 3 October, Ahmad Salama Mabruk, a senior al-Nusra Front and previously Egyptian Islamic Jihad commander, was killed by an air-to-surface missile launched by a US unmanned aerial vehicle in Jisr al-Shughur.^[51]

November 2016

On 18 November, a US airstrike killed an Afghan al-Nusra Front commander, Abu Afghan al-Masri, in the town of Sarmada.^[354]

On 24 November, the Washington Post reported that Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott C. Dayton of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 2 was killed by an IED near Ayn Issa - roughly 35 miles northwest of the ISIS's self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa. It was the first time a U.S. service member has been killed in Syria since a contingent of Special Operations forces was deployed there in October 2015.^[355]

December 2016

On 4 December, it was reported that a US airstrike in Raqqa killed three key IS leaders, two of whom (Salah Gourmat and Sammy Djedou) were involved in plotting the November 2015 Paris attacks.^[358]^[359]

On 8 December, during the 4th Palmyra offensive, US-led coalition warplanes bombed an IS convoy near Palmyra in central Syria and destroyed 168 trucks carrying petroleum.^[360]

On 10 December, it was reported that the US is sending 200 more U.S. Special Operations personnel to Syria, joining the 300 US special forces already in the country. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the troops would include special forces trainers, advisers and bomb disposal teams and that they will "continue organising, training, equipping, and otherwise enabling capable, motivated, local forces" to take the fight to IS. In particular, the troops will assist SDF forces in the Raqqa offensive; France also has Special Operations units in the country.^[361]^[362]^[363]

The New York Times reported that on 15 December, coalition warplanes destroyed 14 Syrian Army T-72 battle tanks, 3 artillery systems and a number of buildings and vehicles that IS militants were using at a military base in central Syria that IS had seized the previous weekend from Syrian troops and their Russian advisers.^[364]

On 31 December, a Coalition airstrike in Raqqa killed Mahmud al-Isawi, al-Isawi was an ISIL member who supported the organization's media and intelligence structure in Fallujah before relocating to Raqqa. His role in the group was controlling the flow of instructions and finances between ISIL-held areas and ISIL leaders and provided support to propaganda and intelligence outlets; he was also known to have facilitated trans-regional travel with other ISIL external operations coordinators and had a close working and personal relationship with Abd al-Basit al-Iraqi, the emir of ISIL's Middle East attack network.^[365]

2017

January 2017

On 1 January, a US drone strike killed Abu Omar al-Turkistani, a Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Turkistan Islamic Party military commander, and 3 other JFS members near the town of Sarmada in the northern Idlib Governorate.^[366]

On 2 January, more than 25 JFS members were killed in an air raid by suspected US planes.^[367]

On 6 January, as part of the Raqqa offensive, SDF forces supported by American special forces and international coalition aircraft seized Qalaat Jaabar fortress after fierce fighting with IS jihadists.^[368]

On 8 January, the coalition forces conducted a landing operation into the road between the villages of Jazra and Kabr in the western Deir ez-Zor Governorate from 4 helicopters. The landing forces had set up checkpoints on the road and raided a water plant in Kabr, where they killed and captured a number of ISIL fighters. After an hour and 15 minutes, the forces withdrew.^[369]

On 11 January, air-to-surface missile launched from suspected US aircraft hit a Fatah al-Sham convoy consisting of 5 vehicles and killed 14 JFS members.^[370]

On 17 January, separate US airstrikes in the Idlib Governorate killed Mohammad Habib Boussaboun al-Tunisi and Abd al-Jalil al-Muslimi, two Tunisian al-Qaeda external operations leaders.^[371] Also that day, it was reported that U.S. warplanes and combat advisers are supporting Turkish military units battling IS fighters in northern Syria, particularly at the Battle of al-Bab.^[372]

On 19 January, US airstrikes by Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers struck the former Syrian Army Sheikh Suleiman military base near Darat Izza, in western Aleppo, which was used by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. The airstrike killed at least 110 JFS fighters and some al-Zenki fighters,^[373] including Abu Hasan al-Taftanaz, an al-Qaeda senior leader. Since 1 January 2017, more than 150 AQ members were killed by US airstrikes in 2017.^[374] The Sheikh Suleiman base had been operated as a training camp by Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and al-Zenki since 2013.^[373]

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes have killed 7,043 people across Syria, of which: 5,768 dead were ISIL fighters, 304 Al-Nusra Front militants and other rebels, 90 government soldiers and 881 civilians. The air strikes occurred in the period between 22 September 2014 and 23 January 2017.^[375]

February 2017

On 1 February, it was reported that the US-led Coalition had conducted an airstrike on the Carlton Hotel in the city of Idlib,^[376] which local and NGO sources said was a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) facility^[376]^[377] and which pro-government media said was used by Tahrir al-Sham's former al-Nusra component for troop housing, and hosting meetings of prominent commanders.^[378] The Coalition denied responsibility, although investigation of open source materials confirmed a strike had occurred and that a SARC facility was damaged.^[379]

On 2 February, Sky News reported that Turkish aircraft killed 51 IS fighters in the space of 24 hours in the areas of a-Bab, Tadef, Qabasin, and Bizaah. The airstrikes targeted buildings and vehicles resulting in 85 IS positions destroyed. According to the Turkish military command, since the beginning of Operation Euphrates Shield, at least 1,775 IS militants have been "neutralised," with more than 1,500 of those killed.^[380]

On 3 February, US airstrikes hit Jund al-Aqsa and Tahrir al-Sham positions in Sarmin, near Idlib, and killed more than 12 militants.^[27] On the same day, the Royal Jordanian Air Force launched several airstrikes on ISIL outposts in southern Syria.^[381]

On 4 February 2017, a US airstrike killed Abu Hani al-Masri, who was a part of Ahrar al-Sham at the time of his death, but described by the Pentagon as a former al-Qaeda commander. It was reported that there was speculation that he was about to defect to Tahrir al-Sham before his death.^[382]^[383]

On 26 February, in Al-Mastoumeh, Idlib, a US drone strike killed Abu Khayr al-Masri, who was the deputy leader of al-Qaeda.^[384]^[385]^[386] He had been released and allowed into Syria as part of a prisoner swap between Iran and al-Qaeda in 2015.^[387]^[388]^[389]^[385] The US airstrike also killed another Tahrir al-Sham militant, who was traveling in the same car.^[390]^[391]

March 2017 – Regular U.S. forces arrive and the Battle of Tabqa

On 8 March, various news outlets reported that conventional US troops as part of an amphibious task force left their ships in the Middle East and deployed to Syria, where they established an outpost from which they can provide artillery support for U.S.-backed local forces who are preparing an assault Raqqa in the battle to liberate the city from IS militants. The deployment marks a new escalation in the U.S. war in Syria, and puts more conventional U.S. troops in the battle, that until now had primarily used Special Operations units. The force is part of the 11th MEU, 400 US Marines from the Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines will crew an artillery battery of M-777 Howitzers; whilst additional infantrymen from the unit will provide security, while resupplies will be handled by part of the expeditionary force's combat logistics element. A defense official with direct knowledge of the operation said the Marines were flown from Djibouti to Kuwait and then into Syria. There are 900 US soldiers and Marines deployed to Syria in total (500 special forces troops were already on the ground to train and support the SDF); under the existing limits put in place by the Obama administration, the formal troop cap for Syria is 503, but commanders have the authority to temporarily exceed that limit to meet military requirements. There are approximately 100 US Army Rangers in Strykers and armored Humvees deployed in and around Manbij, US officials said. They are there to discourage Syrian, Russian, or Turkish troops from making any moves that could shift the focus away from an assault on IS militants, specifically preventing them inadvertently coming under fire. The US believes the pressure on ISIS in Raqqa is working, a US official said that intelligence indicates some ISIS leadership and operatives continue to try to leave the city. He added that there is also US intelligence that indicates the city is laced with trenches, tunnels, roadside bombs and houses and buildings wired to explode, which if correct indicates that the US has likely been able to gather intelligence from both overhead surveillance aircraft and people on the ground. However, the official also noted that "Raqqa will probably not be the final battle against ISIS" and added that the group still has some personnel dispersed in areas south and east of the city. According to the official the US estimates that ISIS could have roughly as many as 4,000 fighters in Raqqa. An official told the Guardian that in addition, the US is preparing to send hundreds of troops to Kuwait to be ready to fight Isis there if needed and the number would be fewer than 1,000. The Independent reported that Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve, said the artillery unit and the Army Rangers would not have a frontline role.^[392]^[393]^[394]^[395]^[396]^[397]

On 16 March, a US airstrike hit a mosque in western Aleppo and killed more than 42 people, mostly civilians. The location was assessed by the US military as a meeting place for al-Qaeda and the US military claimed that the airstrike hit a target across the mosque and was not targeted at the mosque itself.^[398]

Hundreds of Kurdish and Arab SDF fighters and an undisclosed number of U.S. Special Operations troops as their advisers launched a large-scale heliborne assault on ISIL around the area of the Tabqa Dam with the eventual goal of taking the dam.^[400]^[401]^[402] They were inserted on the southern bank of the Euphrates river behind IS's defenses to take them by surprise, Col Joe Scrocca, the spokesman for the U.S.-led campaign in Iraq and Syria, said that as a result they did not come under fire. The following day, there was heavy fighting in the area; Scrocca added that the ground forces were supported by helicopter gunships, US Marine 155mm artillery and U.S. airstrikes.^[400]

April 2017 – Shayrat missile strike

On 6 April, the US conducted a landing operation against ISIL, to the west of Deir ez-Zor. 2 Coalition helicopters airdropped soldiers in the area and targeted a car^[405] on route from Raqqa to Deir ez-Zor. During the landing, US forces killed 4 ISIL commanders and extracted a Jordanian spy, who had infiltrated ISIL and served as one of its leaders.^[406] CNN reported that the operation took place near Mayadin and that one of the ISIS commanders killed by US special forces was Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, a top facilitator and close associate of ISIS' leader, he was also connected to the New Year's nightclub bombing in Turkey.^[407]

On 7 April, in response to chemical weapon attacks (most notably the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack) against Syrian civilians allegedly by the Syrian government, the US launched missile strikes on the airfield from which the chemical weapon attacks were launched.^[408] This incident marks the first direct attack by the US on the Assad government.^[409] The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the attack as being based on false intelligence and against international law, suspended the Memorandum of Understanding on Prevention of Flight Safety Incidents that had been signed with the US, and called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.^[410]

On 8 April, ISIS militants attacked a U.S. garrison at Al Tanf in Southern Syria: the garrison's main gate was blown up with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, followed by a ground assault of about twenty to thirty ISIS militants, some of whom were wearing suicide vests. The U.S. Central Command said that the ″U.S. special operators″ at the base along with other coalition members and ″U.S.-backed Syrian fighters″, supported by multiple airstrikes, repelled the attack, with no U.S. casualties.^[411]^[412]^[413] The Telegraph reported that during the battle ISIS militants also ambushed a convoy of reinforcements from an allied rebel group who were trying to relieve the base.^[414]

On CNN reported that on 11 April, a misdirected US airstrike near Tabqa during the Raqqa offensive killed 18 SDF soldiers.^[415]

The BBC reported that on 21 April, US ground troops killed Abdurakhmon Uzbeki, a senior member of ISIS who played a key role in an attack on a night club in Istanbul and was a close associate of the leader of ISIS. The targeted commando raid took place in Mayadin.^[416]

May 2017

The BBC reported that on 9 May an RAF drone strike in Syria stopped an ISIS-staged public killing, its hellfire missile killed an ISIS sniper positioned on a rooftop so that the sniper could shoot civilians attempting to walk away. No civilians were harmed and other ISIS fighters fled on motorbikes.^[417]

The Independent reported that on 12 May, SDF forces took control of the Taqba Dam after a deal struck by the SDF and around 70 ISIS militants at the dam which included dismantling of IEDs and booby traps, the surrender of heavy weaponry and forced withdrawal of remaining fighters from Tabqa city.^[418]

On 18 May, the US conducted airstrikes on a convoy of a pro-government militia during the 2017 Baghdad–Damascus highway offensive.^[419] According to a US defense official, before the strikes were conducted, government troops were warned they were getting too close to Coalition forces garrisoned at al-Tanf but did not respond.^[420] According to the US, four or five vehicles were destroyed, including a tank^[421] and two bulldozers.^[422] In contrast, the Syrian Army reported that two tanks were destroyed and a Shilka SPAAG was damaged.^[423] Eight soldiers were killed.^[421]^[424]

June 2017

On 6 June, SDF ground troops backed by US, Australian,^[7] Danish,^[8]^[9] Dutch,{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} French,^[517] German,{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} Italian,^[12] Jordanian,{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} and United Kingdom^[517] airstrikes, launched the Battle of Raqqa (2017). CENTCOM reported that 4,400 munitions were fired in support of operations in Raqqa, a dramatic increase from previous months.^[425]

On 6 June, U.S. aircraft conducted airstrikes on over 60 troops, a tank, artillery, antiaircraft weapons, and armed technical vehicles from pro-government forces that had entered what the Coalition called Al-Tanf "deconfliction zone".^[426]^[427] On 8 June, a U.S. F-15E aircraft shot down a drone and other U.S. aircraft destroyed two armed pick-up trucks belonging to pro-government forces that moved near U.S. backed fighters at Al-Tanf.^[428]^[429]

On 18 June, a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a SAA Su-22 after it allegedly bombed a SDF position in Ja'Din, south of Tabqa. A statement by the Syrian army claimed that the plane was on a mission to bomb ISIL militants. The same day, pro-government forces captured the village of Ja'Din following an SDF withdrawal.^[430]^[431]^[432]^[433] On 20 June, a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle shot down a pro-government Shahed 129 drone near Al-Tanf after it displayed hostile intent and advanced on Coalition forces.^[434]

Across Iraq and Syria, Airwars tracked 223 reported Coalition airstrikes with civilian casualties during June, likely killing a minimum of between 529 and 744 civilians (including at least 415 in Syria, mainly in Raqqa governorate, making it the second mostly deadly month for civilians since the strikes began in 2014.^[425] Significant reported incidents included 3 June in Raqqa (20 civilians), 5 June (hitting civilians fleeing conflict), and 8 June in Raqqa (including reported white phosphorus use and a mosque hit).^[425]

August 2017

On 21 August, US forces in northern Syria were fired on by Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army units near Manbij, and returned fire in a short firefight.^[435]

On 29 August, after the Qalamoun offensive, ISIL militants were surrounded by Lebanese, Hezbollah and Syrian forces on both sides of the Lebanese-Syrian border and therefore negotiated a safe-passage deal so that 670 ISIL fighters and their relatives were to be taken from the border in vehicles to Abu Kamal. The US military disapproved of the deal, Colonel Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for the US-led coalition said the deal undermined efforts to fight the ISIL in Syria; US aircraft carried out airstrikes, blocking the road the ISIL convoy was travelling on, before it reached ISIL-occupied territory in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. Dillon added that other US airstrikes hit militants apparently attempting to join the stranded militants in the convoy.^[435] The Independent later reported that the convoy was trapped the towns of Humayma and al-Sukhnah.^[436]

September 2017

On 3 September, the Independent reported that 400 ISIS militants and their families traveling in the convoy that was trapped by US airstrikes in Syria in late August, abandoned their vehicles and began travelling on foot to the Iraqi border.^[436]

December 2017

On 22 December, Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said that Australia will end air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and bring its six Super Hornet planes back home. She also added that other Australian operations in the region would continue, with 80 personnel who are part of the Special Operations Task Group in Iraq, including Australian special forces, continuing their deployment.^[439]

2018

January 2018

February-March 2018 – The Khasham engagement

According to the U.S. military officials, on 7 February in deliberate air and artillery strikes, the U.S.-led coalition killed more than 100 pro-government fighters in eastern Syria, in the Euphrates River valley in the province of Deir Ezzor, after they launched an "unprovoked attack" against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).^[443] Syrian state news corroborated the events, but insisted that the Kurdish forces were mixed in with ISIS forces; it also stated that 10 Russian mercenaries were among those killed.^[444]

April 2018

On 14 April, Donald Trump, president of the United States, announced that the US, France, and the United Kingdom had decided to carry out a series of military strikes against the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.^[446]^[447] The strikes came in the wake of the Douma chemical attack.^[448]^[449]

May-June 2018

On 1 May, the SDF, in coordination with the Iraqi Armed Forces, announced the resumption of their Deir ez-Zor offensive to capture the final ISIL pockets near the Iraqi border and along the Euphrates.^[450] By 3 May, the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group had joined the SDF's anti-ISIL operations.^[451]

One 21 June, US-led Coalition conducted airstrike against Syrian army positions in east of Homs, resulting with the killing of at least 1 Syrian soldiers.^[452] On 22 June, US-led coalition spokesman claimed that they responded to an attack by an "unidentified hostile force" near al-Tanf.^[453]

November 2018

On 1 November, the Coalition began a series of joint patrols with the Turkish Armed Forces along the frontlines of the Kurdish-controlled Manbij region and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army's territory. The move was seen as a part of a "roadmap" to ease tensions between the two NATO allies and reduce violence between Kurdish and Turkish elements.^[454]

On 21 November, United States Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis announced the U.S. would set up new observation posts along the Turkish border in northern Syria in order to reduce skirmishes between Turkish forces and armed Kurdish militants in the region such as the border clashes in late October-early November. Mattis affirms it is a co-operational endeavor with Turkey and it will not require additional US troops to be deployed to Syria.^[455]^[456]

{{anchor|December 2018}}December 2018 – Announcement of U.S. withdrawal

US President Donald Trump, declaring "we have won against ISIS," unilaterally announced on 19 December 2018 that the remaining 2,000 American troops in Syria would be withdrawn. Trump made the announcement on Twitter, overruling the recommendations of his military commanders and civilian advisors, with apparently no prior consultation with Congress. Although no timetable was provided, press secretary Sarah Sanders indicated that the withdrawal had begun. Various sources indicated that Trump had directed that the withdrawal be completed within 30 days.^[457]^[458]^[459] However, Reuters was told by a US official that the withdrawal was expected to take 60 to 100 days.^[460]^[461] After Trump's announcement, the Pentagon and State Department tried to change his mind, with several of his congressional and political allies expressing serious concerns about the sudden move, specifically that it would hand control of the region to Russia and Iran and abandon America's Kurdish allies.^[462]^[463]

On 27 December administration officials stated that USCENTCOM's Syria troop withdrawal plan entailed the withdrawal taking place over several months instead of weeks, falling in line with Trump's post-announcement comments that the withdrawal of US troops would be "deliberate and orderly." By the end of the month it remained unclear whether anti-ISIL air operations would continue post-withdrawal.^[466] By 31 December US Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted that Trump would seek a more gradual withdrawal over a course of several months after Graham and a group of generals held a luncheon with the president over the withdrawal; a slow down of the withdrawal was not officially confirmed by the administration.^[467]

2019

January 2019

On 6 January 2019, US National Security Advisor John Bolton, while on a trip to Israel and Turkey, said that the withdrawal of US troops from Syria depends on certain conditions, including the assurance that the remnants of ISIL forces are defeated and Kurds in northern Syria were safe from Turkish forces.^[468] However, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the call to protect Kurdish troops, whom he regarded as terrorist groups.^[469] On 10 January 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while at a joint news conference in Cairo with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, said that the US would withdraw its troops from Syria while continuing the battle against ISIL, but warned that there would be no US reconstruction aid for areas controlled by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad until Iran and its proxies had left.^[470]^[471]

On 11 January, Coalition spokesman Col. Sean Ryan confirmed the US troop withdrawal process from Syria had begun. "Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troops movements," he said. SOHR observed that the Coalition had started scaling down its presence at Rmeilan airfield in al-Hasakah.^[472] US Department of Defense officials said it had begun the removal of equipment, but not yet troops, and that the total amount of US soldiers in Syria may temporarily increase in order to provide security for the final pullout. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian welcomed what he believed was a slower, more effective withdrawal by the US after pressure from its allies.^[473]

On 15 January the Coalition released fresh numbers regarding their continuing operations in both Syria and Iraq. Between 30 December 2018 and 6 January 2019, the Coalition conducted 575 air and artillery strikes against ISIL in Syria; the strikes destroyed 105 ISIL mortar and rocket artillery units, 50 IED manufacturing sites, 26 vehicles, 19 weapons caches, and two UAV systems. Between January 7-13 airstrikes in the middle Euphrates River Valley near the Iraqi border also killed around 200 militants including four senior commanders.^[474]

With ISIL cornered in its final redoubt due to the Kurdish-led conquest against it in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, acting US Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said at his first news conference as SecDef on 29 January that the Coalition will have liberated all of the Islamic State's remaining self-proclaimed caliphate in "two weeks". “I'd say 99.5 percent plus of … the ISIS controlled territory has been returned to the Syrians. Within a couple of weeks it will be 100 percent,” Shanahan said. Shanahan said the US is still in the early stages of what he called a “deliberate coordinated, disciplined withdrawal,” from Syria, and that “very important dialogues going on in major capitals” about support to Syria, once the US leaves.^[475]

February 2019 – Kurds corner ISIL in Baghuz

US President Donald Trump reiterated his support for withdrawing American ground troops from both Syria and Afghanistan in a series of tweets on 1 February amid proliferating concerns among America's allies, politicians, analysts, and local activists over a feared power vacuum in Syria post-withdrawal. “I inherited a total mess in Syria and Afghanistan, the 'Endless Wars' of unlimited spending and death. During my campaign I said, very strongly, that these wars must finally end. We spend $50 Billion a year in Afghanistan and have hit them so hard that we are now talking peace after 18 long years,” Trump tweeted. The day prior, the US Senate had issued a rebuke of the president cautioning against the “precipitous withdrawal” of military forces; furthermore the United States Intelligence Community contradicted the president on its perception of the continuing global threat ISIL continued to pose during a Senate committee hearing.^[476] A draft Pentagon report emerged on 1 February warning that ISIL could regain territory in Syria within a year following a US disengagement from Syria.^[477] On 5 February, top CENTCOM General Joseph Votel noted during a Senate Armed Services Committee testimony that he had not been consulted prior to Trump's decision to withdraw American forces, reinforcing the notion that the US withdrawal was ordered completely unilaterally from the White House without prior consultation with relevant military advisors and Defense personnel.^[478]

On 6 February, President Donald Trump, while at a summit of 79 foreign ministers and officials that assisted in the global coalition against ISIL, predicted a formal announcement of a final victory against ISIL as early as the following week. "Remnants - that's all they have, remnants - but remnants can be very dangerous," Trump said in regards to ISIL. "Rest assured, we'll do what it takes to defeat every ounce and every last person within the ISIS madness".^[479] The Wall Street Journal, citing State department officials, reported on 8 February that the US pullout from Syria was expected to be complete by April, with the majority of ground troops expected to be already withdrawn by mid-March. A US official confirmed to Reuters that the withdrawal included pulling troops from al-Tanf.^[480]

An OIR summary on Coalition activity between 27 January and 9 February detailed air and artillery strikes conducted in Iraq and Syria. The Coalition conducted 176 strikes in Syria. Targets included: 146 ISIL tactical units, 131 supply routes, 53 fighting positions, 31 staging areas, 14 VBIEDs, 13 pieces of engineering equipment, 11 explosive belts, nine tankers for petroleum oil and lubricants, eight tactical vehicles, five command and control nodes, four buildings, three aircraft operations areas, three tunnels, two petroleum oil and lubricant storage facilities, two manufacturing facilities for IEDs, two artillery pieces, two weapons caches, and one armored vehicle.^[481]

After the SDF's assault on Baghuz Fawqani began on 9 February, CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel told CNN on 11 February that ISIL losing physical territory doesn't mean the end of the organization. "Putting military pressure on [ISIL] is always better, it's always easier when you are there on the ground, but in this case our President has made a decision and we are going to execute that and so it's my responsibility as the CENTCOM commander working with my chain of command to look at how we do that," adding that the completion of the withdrawal of US forces was "weeks away... but then again it will be driven by the situation on the ground".^[482]

President Trump tweeted late on 16 February urging European countries to repatriate the over 800 captured suspected ISIL members from Syria, warning the US may be forced to release them otherwise. Kurdish prisons couldn't hold the ISIL members and all their families, totaling around 2,000 people, indefinitely. The Kurds called the situation a "time bomb".^[483]^[484] The US-Kurdish demand to take responsibility got mixed responses from Europe. German foreign minister Heiko Maas said repatriation would be possible only if returning fighters could be immediately taken into custody, which would be “extremely difficult to achieve” without proper judicial information. France, whose citizens made up the majority of European ISIL recruits, said it would not act immediately on Trump's call but would take militants back “case by case”, and not categorically. Britain has said its fighters can return only if they seek consular help in Turkey, while acknowledging this was a dilemma. Belgium’s justice minister Koen Geens called for a “European solution”, urging “calm reflection and a look at what would pose the least security risks”. But the Hungarian foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said the issue was “one of the greatest challenges ahead of us for the upcoming months”.^[485]

After announcing the US would keep a "peacekeeping" force of around 200-400 troops in Syria — instead of the initially planned total withdrawal — on 22 February, senior Trump administration and defense officials stated the decision was an endorsement of a plan pressed by US military leaders for some time, calling for an international force, preferably NATO or regional Arab allies, of 800 to 1,500 troops that would monitor a safe zone along Syria's border with Turkey.^[486]

March 2019

On 10 March, John Bolton stated that he was "optimistic" France and the UK would commit personnel to the planned observer force. He also reiterated the US commitment to keep troops in Iraq.^[487] On 20 March, in response to new developments in the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, President Trump predicted that the remaining ISIL holdout would be cleared "by tonight" during a speech at the Lima Army Tank Plant in Lima, Ohio. "The caliphate is gone as of tonight," he said, as he used maps depicting ISIL's territorial collapse since November 2016; later, the November 2016 map was shown to actually be a map from 2014 when ISIL was at its peak territorial size, before the Coalition's anti-ISIL operations.^[488]^[489]

Airstrikes on the Khorasan Group

One of the groups targeted by U.S. airstrikes was the Khorasan Group, an extremist group of suspected al-Qaeda "core" members who were alleged to have been plotting an attack against the U.S. and other Western nations.^[197] The strikes targeted Khorasan training camps, explosives and munitions production facilities, communications facilities, as well as command and control facilities. The group has been claimed to possess advanced bomb making skills and their plot is claimed to involve a bomb made of a nonmetallic device such as a toothpaste container or clothes dipped in explosive material.^[490] The group is reportedly led by Muhsin al-Fadhli, a leader of al-Qaeda and a close confidant of Osama bin Laden.^[490] Intelligence officials expressed concern that the group may include militants who were taught by Ibrahim al-Asiri, the chief bomb maker for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, who is known for his sophisticated bomb making techniques that nearly downed two Western airliners.^[490]

Later statements by government officials indicated that the threat of a plot may have been less severe than initially reported.^[491]^[492] One official indicated that "there did not yet seem to be a concrete plan in the works",^[491] while another told The Guardian that "there was no indication of an imminent domestic threat from the group" at the time the United States began bombing.^[492]

On 6 November, a second round of airstrikes was launched against Khorasan and al-Nusra in northwestern Syria, along with Ahrar ash-Sham at its headquarters in Idlib, whose leadership had been infiltrated by al-Qaeda.^[31] On 13 November 2014, the US launched a third set of airstrikes against Khorasan.^[493] On 19 November, the US carried out another airstrike on Khorasan near Hazm, which struck and destroyed a storage facility associated with the group.^[257] On 1 December, the US carried out another airstrike on Khorasan near Aleppo.^[260]

On 24 March 2015, it was revealed that the US airstrikes on Khorasan had killed 17 militants from the group.^[494]

On 8 July 2015, a US airstrike near the town of Sarmada in Idlib, Syria, killed Muhsin al-Fadhli, the leader of Khorasan.^[53]

Ground operations

During the beginning of the coalition interventions, leaders, including U.S. President Obama, said coalition ground forces would not be used in the fight against ISIL either in Iraq or Syria unless they were local cCalition forces.^[495] While in Iraq thousands of coalition troops from the United States and other nations had been deployed in an advisory capacity, in Syria no ground troops from the coalition intervening in Syria were deployed in the beginning of the intervention.^[496]^[497]

2015-16

In November 2015, the Obama administration began the deployment of U.S. special forces to Syria, on the mission of assisting rebel forces in their fight against ISIL, President Obama then ordered several dozen Special Operations troops into Rojava in northern Syria to assist local fighters battling the Islamic State, authorizing the first open-ended mission by American ground forces into the country.^[498]

ISIL's deputy leader in Syria, Abu Ali al-Anbari, was killed by JSOC special forces operatives in March 2016, in eastern Syria near the Syrian–Iraqi border, while he and three other ISIL members were traveling in a vehicle coming from Raqqa. The US Special Forces ordered him to exit the vehicle, intending to arrest him. When he refused and pulled out an assault rifle instead, US forces fired at the vehicle, killing him and the other passengers on board. US commandos also seized electronics and other documents during the operation for intelligence purposes.^[499]

In March 2016, King Abdullah of Jordan said that British forces had helped in the building up of a mechanized battalion in southern Syria, consisting of tribal fighters to combat the Syrian Army.^[500]

On 17 March 2016, the day after the declaration of the Federation of Northern Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter praised the Syrian Democratic Forces 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."^[501]

During the SDF's May 2016 offensive against ISIL in Northern Raqqa, U.S. Special Forces were widely reported and photographed to be present, with some of them wearing badges of the Kurdish YPG and YPJ on their uniforms.^[502] On 21 May, Joseph Votel, commanding general of U.S. Central Command, completed a secret hours-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".^[503]

In 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 claimed that the SDF are "endangering our future".^[504]

In October 2016, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commander of the international coalition against ISIL, said that the SDF would lead the impending assault on Raqqa, ISIL's then-stronghold and capital, and that SDF commanders would plan the operation with advice from American and coalition troops.^[505] From November 2016, more than 300 U.S. Special Operations Forces were embedded to train and advise SDF fighters in the Raqqa offensive.^[506]

2017-18

In March 2017, the Donald Trump Administration deployed an additional 400 U.S. Marines in Syria to expand the fight against ISIL in the Raqqa offensive where they could provide artillery support for U.S.-backed local forces that were preparing an assault on Raqqa to liberate the city from IS militants. The deployment marked a new escalation in the U.S.'s war in Syria, and put more conventional U.S. troops in the battle that, until then, had primarily used Special Operations units. The 400 Marines were part of the 11th MEU from the Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. They manned an artillery battery of M-777 Howitzers whilst additional infantrymen from the unit provided security; resupplies were handled by part of the expeditionary force's combat logistics element.^[507] During the Raqqa campaign alone, this small artillery battalion fired over 40,000 shells (including 34,033 155mm), more than were used in the entire 2003 invasion of Iraq and only 20,000 fewer than all those fired by the U.S. military in Operation Desert Storm.^[508]

In March 2018, SDF press secretary in Deir ez-Zor Mehdi Kobani reportedly told Sputnik Turkiye that U.S. forces were building a "large military base" in the oil-rich al-Omar region of Deir ez-Zor as new equipment had been reportedly arriving to U.S. bases in Syria. The al-Omar oilfield is the largest oil deposit in Syria, and was captured by the SDF during their campaign against ISIL in October 2017.^[509]^[510]

It was reported in June 2018 that the 441st Air Expeditionary Squadron reportedly maintains an unpaved runway in Sarrin, Raqqa Governorate.^[511]^[512]^[513]

2019-20 partial withdrawal of U.S. ground forces

On 19 December 2018, President Donald Trump announced that he ordered the pullout of all 2,000-2,500 U.S. troops operating in Syria, though no clear timetable was given.^[514] U.S. operations in al-Tanf continued into 2019.^[515]

On 16 January 2019, a suicide bombing claimed by ISIL in the SDF-controlled town of Manbij killed four U.S. personnel and injured three servicemen, making it the deadliest attack on Coalition forces in the country since the intervention.^[516]^[517]^[518] The ISIL attack drew a second round of criticism of the U.S. president's withdrawal order, with critics linking the attack with an emboldening of ISIL terror and insurgent tactics due to the announcement of a U.S. pullout, despite the group's continued loss of territory in Syria.^[519] President Trump offered condolences to the families of the slain American citizens on 17 January while he reaffirmed his policy of withdrawing troops.^[520] Trump paid tribute to the fallen Americans during a trip to Dover Air Force Base in the U.S. state of Delaware on 19 January, where their remains were received.^[521]

On 21 January, an ISIL SVBIED targeted a U.S. convoy accompanied by SDF troops on the Shadadi-Al-Hasakah road in Al-Hasakah province, killing five SDF personnel. Witnesses said the SVBIED rammed into an SDF vehicle by a checkpoint held by Kurdish forces a dozen kilometers outside Shadadi as the U.S. convoy drove past. No Americans were harmed.^[522]

By the end of January 2019, according to two U.S. officials, more than 10 percent of American equipment and supplies had been removed from Syria, with 3,000 additional personnel brought into the country to facilitate the draw-down of forces. By 9 February, hundreds of U.S. airstrikes and ground support for the SDF continued as the Kurdish-led force began its final assault on the last ISIL holdouts trapped in a small cluster of hamlets in eastern Syria (including Al-Baghuz Fawqani and southern Al-Marashidah) no larger than a few square miles. U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump, believed the SDF would be able to defeat the remaining diehard ISIL fighters “in days”, bringing an end to ISIL’s claim of a territorial caliphate.^[525]

On 18 February, Commander-in-Chief of the SDF Mazlum Kobane expressed hopes the U.S. would halt its total pullout. Kobane said there were discussions about perhaps French and British troops supporting them, but demanded 1,000-1,5000 U.S. troops stay in Syria to provide "air cover, air support and a force on the ground" to help the SDF in its ongoing fight against ISIL. CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel reiterated the U.S. withdrawal was continuing.^[484]

With the general withdrawal continuing, the White House announced late on 21 February that 200 residual U.S. troops would remain in Syria as a "peacekeeping force". The peacekeeping deployment would be indefinite.^[526] The next day it was revealed the actual number was 400 troops, not 200, as half would be based in Rojava and half at al-Tanf. Officials stated it was a part of an initiative to get NATO allies to commit to a multinational observer force that would establish a "safe zone" in Rojava to keep the Kurds and Turks from clashing, to prevent pro-Syrian government forces from attacking the Kurds, and to keep up pressure to prevent an ISIL resurgence. The U.S. is not seeking a United Nations mandate for the deployment and currently does not envision asking NATO to sponsor the mission, an administration official said, adding that the troops would not technically be "peacekeepers," a term that carries restricted rules of engagement.^[486]

On 7 March, Gen. Joseph Votel confirmed that U.S. forces were in no rush to pullout by a specific date, instead saying the completion of the withdrawal was conditional on ISIL no longer posing a security threat to U.S. forces and their allies.^[527] By late March, the U.S. continued to stretch the timetable for the pullout. On 29 March, U.S. officials reportedly said the Pentagon's latest plans called for cutting its combat force in northeastern Syria roughly in half by early May 2019, or to about 1,000 troops, and would then pause pullout operations. The military would then reduce the number of forces every six months, depending on conditions on the ground, until it reaches the 400 troops previously approved by the president. Under this plan, the lowest troop numbers wouldn't be reached until autumn 2020. The longer timetable would provide the U.S. more time to negotiate and work out details over the planned multinational safe zone along Turkey's border. Officials cautioned that the timetable was open-ended and still subject to change, with factors ranging from allied troop contributions to new orders from the president himself.^[528]

Turkish involvement

Turkey also holds sovereignty over the Tomb of Suleyman Shah 35 km inside Syria, where it maintains a small garrison of Special forces that is surrounded by ISIL-controlled territory.^[535]

On 22 February 2015, the Turkish Army mounted a rescue operation across the border to evacuate its soldiers from the Tomb of Suleyman Shah, an exclave of Turkey south of Kobanî. The Turkish convoy reportedly transited through Kurdish-held Kobanî en route to the tomb. One Turkish soldier was killed in what Ankara described as an accident. The success of the operation was announced 22 February by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.^[536]

Rising anti-American sentiment in Turkey has occurred since the start of the Turkish invasion of northern Syria in January 2018 aimed at ousting U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds from the enclave of Afrin. A poll conducted in Turkey during the operation revealed that 90 percent of respondents believed that the United States is "behind" the Kurdish PKK and YPG.^[537] After the start of the Turkish invasion, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis stated that "Turkey is a NATO ally. It's the only NATO country with an active insurgency inside its borders. And Turkey has legitimate security concerns."^[538] Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag urged the United States to halt its support for Kurdish YPG fighters, saying: "Those who support the terrorist organization will become a target in this battle."^[539]

On 15 January 2019, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he agreed with setting up a 35km "safe zone" in northern Syria after engaging with US President Donald Trump a couple days prior.^[540]

Reports of civilian casualties and war crimes

On 29 September 2014, several groups including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the Aleppo Media Center, and the Local Coordination Committees reported that U.S. strikes hit a grain silo in the ISIL-controlled town of Manbij in northern Syria, killing two civilians.^[541]^[542]

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported ten airstrikes, also targeting various parts of the province of Idlib, killed at least one child and six other civilians. The group said at least 19 civilians had been killed in coalition airstrikes at that time.^[543] The Pentagon reported it had no evidence of any civilian casualties from airstrikes targeting militants in Syria.^[544] The United States has also acknowledged that its rules to avoid civilian casualties are looser in Syria than those for drone strikes elsewhere.^[545]

The SOHR and other activist groups reported that seven civilians were killed when an air strike hit a gas distribution facility near the town of al-Khasham is the eastern Deir al-Zor province on 17 October 2014 and three civilians were killed in an air strike on 16 October 2014 in the north east province of al-Hassakah. According to their reports, most of the civilians killed were fuel tanker drivers.^[546]

According to Reuters, 50 civilians were killed in Syria by US-led airstrikes, from the start of the campaign in late September 2014 to mid-November.^[547] On 28 December 2014, a U.S. airstrike in the northern Syrian town of Al-Bab killed more than 50 civilians.^[548]

On 21 May 2015, the United States admitted it "probably" killed two children in bombings near Harem on 4 and 5 November 2014. These are the first such admissions of the campaign, and followed a military investigation. A similar investigation regarding an event in Syria is underway, and two regarding events in Iraq.^[549] Two adult civilians were also minorly injured in the Harem strikes. The deaths and injuries are attributed by the military investigation to unintentional secondary explosions, after the bombers hit their intended targets, linked to the Khorasan.^[550]

On 19 July 2016 a coalition led airstrike on the ISIL controlled villages of Tokhar and Hoshariyeh reportedly killed at least 56 civilians, including 11 children.^[551] On 3 August 2016, dozens of civilians were killed after an airstrike in al-Qa'im, some sources claiming that 30 were killed.^[552]

At least 33 people were killed in a U.S.-led coalition airstrike on a school near Raqqa in March 2017^[554] in what is described as war crime.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} On 16 March 2017, a U.S. airstrike in rebel-held Aleppo killed at least 46 people and wounded more than 100 after warplanes hit a mosque.^[555]

According to a report by Amnesty International, the U.S.-led Coalition has provided falsified data to conceal the actual number of civilian deaths resulting from their bombing campaigns and is "deeply in denial" about civilian casualties in Raqqa. After an investigation by Amnesty International in June 2018, the U.S.-led Coalition confirmed that "coalition air strikes killed 70 civilians, mostly women and children – including 39 members of a single family."^[556]

According to Airwars,^[557] the strikes of U.S.-led coalition killed as many as 6,000 civilians in Syria and Iraq in 2017.^[558]

On 2 May 2018, Britain's Ministry of Defense admitted for the first time that a civilian was "unintentionally" killed in an anti-ISIL drone strike on 26 March 2018. According to the MoD, the civilian was on a motorbike and entered the target area at the last minute. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said the incident was "deeply regrettable".^[559]^[560]

At the end of 2018, Airwars estimated 2,736–3,877 civilian deaths in Iraq and Syria due to Coalition airstrikes, including 1,532–1,973 children and 3,195 named victims. The Coalition's own estimate of civilian deaths was 1,124.^[561]

Results

According to CJTF-OIR, by May 2016, ISIL has lost 25% of the territory it possessed in Syria since the campaign began, mostly due to advances by YPG/SDF forces with heavy Coalition air support.^[562] Overall, by the end of 2016 the American-led air campaign against ISIL is estimated by the Pentagon to have struck 32,000 targets (including 164 tanks, 400 Humvees, and 2,638 pieces of oil infrastructure) and killed 50,000 militants, with approximately 1/3 of these losses taking place in Syria.^[1]^[563]

By 23 March 2019, the day of ISIL's territorial collapse in Syria, CJTF-OIR and partner forces had liberated nearly 110,000 square kilometers (42,471 square miles) from the Islamic State; as a result, 7.7 million people no longer lived under ISIL's "caliphate".^[564]

Reactions

Foreign reactions

Syrian reactions

See also

References

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32. ^There was one series of strikes in 2016, intentionality disputed.
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112. ^See here.
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459. ^{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-announce-us-withdraw-troops-syria-official/story?id=59906876|title=Trump orders US troops to leave Syria as White House declares victory over ISIS there|author1=Luis Martinez|author2=Eiizabeth McLaughlin |author3=Conor Finnegan |publisher=ABC News|accessdate=20 December 2018 |date=19 December 2018|quote=Once officially ordered by Defense Secretary James Mattis, the withdrawal would be completed within 30 days, an official told ABC News.}}
460. ^¹{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/19/us-troops-syria-withdrawal-trump|title=Trump shocks allies and advisers with plan to pull US troops out of Syria|author1=Julian Borger|authorlink1=Julian Borger|author2=Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent |publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=20 December 2018 |date=20 December 2018|quote=Reuters quoted a US official as saying the troop pullout would take between 60 and 100 days.}}
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586. ^{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/syrian-foreign-minister-the-us-said-we-are-not-after-the-syrian-army-before-airstrikes-2014-9|agency=Associated Press|title=Syrian Foreign Minister: The US Said 'We Are Not After The Syrian Army' Before Airstrikes|date=30 September 2014|accessdate=3 October 2014|work = Business Insider|last = Karam|first = Zeina}}
587. ^{{cite news|url= http://bigstory.ap.org/article/2604d6bcf901452ab74000f2e769e54e/syrian-opposition-chief-urges-airstrikes-syria|title= Syrian Opposition Chief Urges Airstrikes in Syria|first= Zeina|last=Karam|quote=We must begin airstrikes in Syria — immediately as we speak. Time is of essence to avert catastrophe|date=22 September 2014|accessdate=4 October 2014|work = Associated Press}}
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591. ^¹{{cite news | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/16/us-mideast-crisis-usa-idUSKBN0O10FP20150516| title = U.S. conducts raid in Syria, says it kills senior Islamic State leader| publisher = Reuters| author = Will Dunham, Matt Spetalnick | date = 16 May 2015| location = Washington DC| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150518085337/https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/16/us-mideast-crisis-usa-idUSKBN0O10FP20150516| archivedate = 18 May 2015| accessdate = 1 July 2015| deadurl = No | quote = }}
592. ^¹{{Cite news| title = Abu Sayyaf, key ISIS figure in Syria, killed in raid| publisher = CNN| url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/17/middleeast/syria-isis-us-raid/index.html| date = 17 May 2015| author = Barbara Starr, Laura Smith-Spark and Ray Sanchez| accessdate = 17 May 2015| archivedate = 12 June 2015| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150612104244/http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/17/middleeast/syria-isis-us-raid/index.html| deadurl = no| quote = The officials identified Sayyaf's captured wife as Umm Sayyaf, an Iraqi. She is now being held in Iraq.}}