Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion

The Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion (Arabic: كتائب ثوار منبج‎, Kurdish: Suwar el-Minbic‎, Turkish: Menbic Devrimci Taburları), also simply known as Manbij Revolutionaries (Arabic: ثوار منبج‎),[3] is a Syrian militia that is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces' Manbij Military Council and operates in the Aleppo Governorate. Members of the unit have declared that their primary goal is to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from Syria, and to establish a democratic, inclusionist government in the country.

Not to be confused with the Manbij Revolutionaries Gathering, a sub-unit of the Northern Brigade, formerly part of the Sham Legion.[1]
Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion
كتائب ثوار منبج (Arabic)
Suwar el-Minbic (Kurdish)
Menbic Devrimci Taburları (Turkish)
Leaders
  • Mustafa Manbij
  • Ahmad Arsh
  • Ali Salah al-Din Bish Alo ("Botan Turkmani") †
Dates of operation25 January 2016 — present
HeadquartersManbij, Aleppo Governorate
IdeologyDemocracy
SizeHundreds (acc. to Hawar News Agency)
Part of Syrian Democratic Forces
Allies International Freedom Battalion
YBŞ
YJÊ
Opponents Islamic State
 Turkey
Syrian National Army
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War

History

According to the pro-SDF Hawar News Agency, the Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion was founded under the leadership of Mustafa Manbij on 25 January 2016,[4] whereas the Firat News Agency claimed that the militia was formed in April 2016.[5][lower-alpha 1] The group was one of the Syrian Democratic Forces' Manbij Military Council's founding members.[12][13][14]

The Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion participated in the Manbij offensive from May 2016,[15][16] and helped to encircle Manbij city. The militia's fighters encountered ISIL forces armed with HEAT missiles during the fighting around the town.[17] One of the group's chief commanders, Ali Salah al-Din Bish Alo (alias "Botan Turkmani"),[18][19] was killed during the Manbij campaign. Ali had been a veteran of the Kurdish Front and also served as commander for the al-Bab Military Council[20] while leading the Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion.[18][19] The SDF later named a military academy after him.[21] After Turkey and allied FSA groups launched Operation Euphrates Shield against ISIL and the YPG/YPJ, a Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion commander expressed a strong disapproval of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. He claimed that Turkey was prolonging the Syrian Civil War by intervening, and that it wanted to prevent the formation of a democratic government in northern Syria.[22]

On 4 February 2017, 100 fighters completed their training at the Martyr Faysal Abu Layla Academy at Manbij, joining the Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion, and by extension, the Manbij Military Council.[23] On 21 February, unidentified gunmen killed five commanders of the unit in the village of Al-Awsajly, west of Manbij.[24]

In early March, as fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Turkish-backed forces escalated in the western Manbij countryside, the SDF made a deal with the Assad government. Accordingly, the SDF handed over a number of villages in the area to the Syrian Army, so that the Turkish forces could no longer attack them. On 6 March 2016, Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion commander Ahmad Arsh appeared in a Russia Today video, dressed like a member of the Syrian Armed Forces and with a Syrian government flag in the background. He claimed to be a commander of the Syrian Border Police, and that he and his men had taken control of the villages in question.[2]

By February 2019, Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion commander Mustafa Manbij led an Arab SDF contingent during the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, ISIL's last important territorial holding in Syria.[25]

Organization

According to the pro-SDF Hawar News Agency, the Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion consists of hundreds of fighters, most of them belonging to tribes that live to Manbij city's west and south.[4] The group is multiethnic, and has recruited Arabs, Kurds, and Syrian Turkmen into its ranks.[5][26]

Fighters of the group have claimed that their ultimate aim is to establish a democratic government in Syria.[26]

See also

Notes
  1. An FSA militia of the same name is known to have operated in the Manbij countryside from at least 2012[6][7][8] to 2014,[9] but it is unknown wthether this group is related to the SDF unit. There also exists a unit named "Manbij Revolutionaries Battalion" which is part of the anti-SDF Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army's Sham Legion.[10][11]

References
  1. "Clashes break out in Ghouta of Damascus and in Dar'a; Al-Sham Legion forms Al-Shamal Brigade in Aleppo". Revolutionary Forces of Syria Media Office. 30 January 2016.
  2. "A Border Police of Assad regime? or a commander in SDF factions?". Verify. 6 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  3. Rashid (2018), p. 6.
  4. "مجلس منبج وقسد التزما.. وأردوغان نسف بنود التوافق الدولي في انجرليك حول منبج" [The Council of Manbj and the envy of the commitment .. And Erdogan blew up the terms of international consensus in the Incirlik about Manbij]. Hawar News Agency (in Arabic). 6 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  5. "داعش لن تدوس تراب منبج من جديد". ANF Agency (in Arabic). 8 August 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  6. Christoph Reuter; Abd al-Kadher Adhun (2 October 2012). "Rebels Make a Go of Governing in Liberated City". Spiegel. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  7. Yasser Munif (21 February 2017). "Participatory Democracy and Micropolitics in Manbij". The Century Foundation. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. "وثيقة تكشف إنهيار معنويات قوات الأسد" [Document reveals the collapse of the morale of the Assad forces]. El-Dorar Al-shamia (in Arabic). 20 December 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  9. "سورية: أهالي منبج يضربون احتجاجاً على تصرفات "داعش"" [Syria: the people of Manbaj strike in protest against the actions of "Deash"]. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (in Arabic). 18 May 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  10. "الاستخبارات التركية تجتمع مع مرتزقة الائتلاف والنصرةقوات سوريا الديمقراطية تطوق بشكل كامل مدينة منبج شرق حلب" ["Sham Corps" announces the control of the village of Amarna in Grapples after clashes with the "bastard"]. SMART News (in Arabic). 24 August 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  11. "مجهولون يواصلون استهداف العسكريين في ريف إدلب" [Unknown gunmen continue to target the military in Idlib countryside]. STEP News (in Arabic). 1 January 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  12. "Minbic military assembly established". ANF News. 2 April 2016.
  13. Erdoğan Altan (3 April 2016). "Manbij Military Council: Manbij Will Soon Be Liberated From ISIS Oppression". The Rojava Report.
  14. Rashid (2018), p. 53.
  15. "Mıstefa Minbic: It is impossible for ISIS gangs to escape". ANF News. 19 June 2016.
  16. "80% of Manbij is liberated, 50 thousand civilians freed". Hawar News Agency. 2 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017.
  17. "الاستخبارات التركية تجتمع مع مرتزقة الائتلاف والنصرةقوات سوريا الديمقراطية تطوق بشكل كامل مدينة منبج شرق حلب" [The Syrian Democratic Forces completely surround the city of Manbij east of Aleppo]. SMART News (in Arabic). 12 June 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  18. "Turkmen Commander: Manbij operation an initiative for joint and free life". Firat News Agency. 11 August 2016.
  19. "انطلاق الدورة الفكرية الثانية بانضمام جميع المكونات في منبج" [Launch of the second intellectual session by joining all components in Manbaj]. ANF Agency (in Arabic). 18 December 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  20. "They achieved victory they are stars do not disappear". Hawar News Agency. 17 August 2018.
  21. "SDF's Martyr Botan Turkman Academy finish 1st course". Hawar News Agency. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  22. "الاستخبارات التركية تجتمع مع مرتزقة الائتلاف والنصرة في شمال سوريا" [Turkish intelligence meets with mercenaries coalition and victory in northern Syria]. PYD (in Arabic). 1 October 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  23. "100 fighters join the Manbij Military Council". Hawar News Agency. 4 February 2017. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017.
  24. "#Syria - Five commanders of YPG-affiliated Arab group assassinated". Yalla Souriya. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  25. Etienne Monin (18 February 2019). "Des civils quittent Baghouz, dernier réduit du "califat" : "Si tu es passée par ici, tu es sur la liste noire pour le reste de ta vie"" [Civilians leave Baghouz, the last cut of the "caliphate": "If you've been here, you're on the black list for the rest of your life"]. Radio France (in French). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  26. "Turkmen fighters: We will liberate Minbic". ANF News. 15 April 2016.

Works cited
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