People's Defense Units

Uncommon card · No. 95248

The People's Defense Units, Kurdish abbreviation YPG, also called People's Protection Units, was a libertarian socialist Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostly consisted of Kurds, but also includes Arabs and foreign volunteers; it was closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, an Assyrian militia. Formed in 2011, it expanded rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and came to predominate over other armed Syrian Kurdish groups. A sister militia, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), fought alongside them. The YPG was active in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava), particularly in its Kurdish regions. In early 2015, the group won a major victory over the Islamic State (IS) during the siege of Kobanî, where the YPG began to receive air and ground support from the United States and other Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve militaries. Since then, the YPG primarily fought against IS...

Read on Wikipedia · Image MrPenguin20, Public domain