Kurdish Armour Against ISIS

The US-backed Kurdish YPG/SDF fought on the front line of the war against Islamic State for five years. This study reveals how they developed their own armored force using captured tanks, homebuilt armor and "technicals" and the role they played in the defeat of "Daesh". The emergence of the armored force of the YPG (People's Protection Units), later renamed the Syrian Democratic Forces during the Syrian Civil War is one of the major developments of this conflict. The YPG/SDF employed a range of vehicles against "Daesh" during 2014-19 and this study identifies, as far as possible which vehicles took part in major battles, such as Kobane, Manbij and Raqqa. While the YPG was frequently outgunned by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), it was able to rely on United States air support after 2015. Nonetheless, AFVs formed part of the fighting units and were important in both the fighting and propaganda war. The title covers the original sources of Kurdish tanks and other armored vehicles: the T-55 tanks which the