Syriac Military Council
The Syriac Military Council (Syriac: ܡܘܬܒܐ ܦܘܠܚܝܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, romanized: Mawtbo Fulḥoyo Suryoyo, MFS; Arabic: المجلس العسكري السرياني السوري) is an Assyrian/Syriac military organisation in Syria, part of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 8 January 2013. According to the Syriac Military Council, the goal of the organisation is to stand up for the national rights of and to protect Assyrians in Syria.[12] It operates mostly in the densely populated Assyrian areas of Al-Hasakah Governorate,[13] and is affiliated to the Syriac Union Party.
Syriac Military Council
8 January 2013–Present
Bethnahrain Women's Protection Forces
Special Forces unit[6]
- Rojava conflict
- Rojava–Islamist conflict
- 2014 Eastern Syria offensive
- Eastern al-Hasakah offensive
- Battle of al-Hasakah (2015)
- 2015 al-Hawl offensive
- Al-Shaddadi offensive (2016)
- Tishrin Dam offensive
- Manbij offensive[11]
- Battle of al-Hasakah (2016)
- Raqqa campaign (2016–2017)
- Deir ez-Zor campaign (2017–19)
- Operation Olive Branch
- 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria
On 16 December 2013, the Syriac Military Council announced the foundation of a new Military Academy named "Martyr Abgar".[14][15] On December 24, the MFS released photographs showing its members in control of the Assyrian village of Ghardukah, located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of Qahtaniyah (Tirbespiyê/Qabre Hewore).[16] The village church had been completely destroyed by Jabhat al-Nusra, which occupied the hamlet before being expelled in mid-October during an operation launched by the People's Protection Units (YPG),[17] in which MFS members may have participated. The Syriac Military Council established an all-female military and police unit called the Bethnahrain Women's Protection Forces in September 2015.[18][19][20]
History[edit]
Tell Brak & Tel Hamis operations (2013–14)[edit]
The MFS was a part of a YPG-led offensive against Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which began on 26 December 2013 in the Tel Hamis area.[21] The YPG and MFS were unable to hold Tell Brak and failed to capture Tel Hamis, and the offensive was called off in early January. Tell Brak was captured on February 23 in a pre-dawn raid by the YPG and the Syriac Military Council.[22]
June 2014 Syria–Iraq border offensive[edit]
MFS, along with YPG forces, participated in an offensive along the Syria-Iraq border. The joint forces managed to drive out Islamic State forces after the jihadist group had taken control of Mosul and most of Nineveh Governorate during the Northern Iraq offensive. The operation led to the full control of Til-Koçar.[23]
August 2014 Sinjar offensive[edit]
The MFS, along with YPG forces and other allies, participated in an offensive against the Islamic State in the district of Sinjar in Iraq's province of Nineveh, to rescue 35,000 Yazidis in the Sinjar Mountains after the Sinjar massacre.[24]