Syrian Military, Kurds Oust ISIS From Hasakeh

Key NE City Has Been Contested for Over a Month

33 days of fighting over several neighborhoods in the key NE Syrian city of Hasakeh has ended, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, with ISIS defeated and fleeing. The city is the de facto capital of Kurdish Syria, and was defended by both Kurds and Syrian military in the region.

The observatory reported 287 ISIS fighters killed over the little over a month of fighting, including at least 26 child soldiers. Many of the slain ISIS fighters were suicide bombers. 120 Syrian troops and dozens of Kurdish YPG fighters were also reported killed.

The Hasakeh Province is oil rich and has historically been an important source of revenue for the Syrian government. It is interesting to note that even though the territory is no longer physically connected to government-held territory Syrian forces continued to support the Kurds in keeping it from ISIS.

A more interesting fact is that this marked the first time Syrian troops and US forces were on the same side in the same battle against ISIS, as the observatory noted that the battle against ISIS included multiple US airstrikes against the ISIS forces. The US has been backing the Kurds for months, but never before in an area where they were cooperating closely with Syrian military forces, who the US maintain are also the enemy.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.