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Coverage · Syria

Key event

The defence of Kobani

September 2014 – January 2015 Kobani / Ayn al-Arab

What happened

ISIS besieges the Kurdish border town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab); YPG fighters, with US air support and Iraqi Kurdish reinforcement, hold and then break the assault by January 2015 in the caliphate's first major defeat.

Kobani forged the US–YPG partnership, made the Kurdish force the coalition's ground partner of choice, and became the founding symbol of the self-administration's legitimacy — a status Türkiye contests to this day.

Confidence: High

WhenSeptember 2014 – January 2015
WhereKobani / Ayn al-Arab
KindMilitary
ArenaNortheast Syria / Kurdish autonomy
Confidence: High Sources: Established historical record Methodology Corrections

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Connected records

3 records that this event names, or that name it — every one an explicit reference in a published record, nothing inferred from subject matter.

Part of1

Campaigns whose record places this event inside them.

Actors1

Actor records this event names.

Participants1

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Where this fits

This is one entry in the Syria timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.