page_title: Eastern al-Hasakah offensive
section_title: The offensive
hierarchical_section_title: Eastern al-Hasakah offensive / The offensive
caption_attribution_description: English: Two Syriac Military Council fighters on the frontlines with the Islamic State near Tell Tamer.
context_page_description: The Eastern al-Hasakah offensive was launched in the Al-Hasakah Governorate during the Syrian Civil War, by the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units, Assyrian Christian militias, and allied Arab forces against the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with the intent of retaking the areas of the Jazira Canton that had been captured by ISIL. Subsequently, the Syrian Armed Forces also launched an assault against the jihadists, without coordinating with the YPG.
context_section_description: The offensive started on 21 February 2015, and by the next day, the Kurds quickly advanced within five kilometers of Tal Hamis, after capturing 23 farms and villages near the Abo Qasayeb area. Their assault was backed up by U.S. and allied Arab air support. Also, near the border with Iraq, the YPG captured two villages. The Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq shelled ISIL positions across the border, in coordination with the YPG during their advance. In response to the Kurdish offensive, on 23 February, ISIL launched a massive attack on a cluster of villages along the southern bank of the Khabur River around the town of Tell Tamer, using around 3,000 fighters and multiple tanks, seizing 11 villages and kidnapping 220 Assyrian Christians by 26 February, according to the SOHR. Local sources stated that 33–35 villages were captured and put the number of abducted Assyrians at 287–400. ISIL was reportedly withdrawing militants from other fronts in Syria, including the front at Homs, to boost their assault at Tell Tamer. The Kurds managed to recapture several of the villages, but the fate of the Christians remained unknown. It was also reported that Abu Omar al-Shishani, ISIL's field commander in Syria, was leading the assault at Tell Tamer.
  On 23 February, the YPG captured Tell Brak, during a pre-dawn raid On 25 February, the YPG cut the road between Tal Hamis and al-Hawl, which was a main ISIL supply line from Iraq. By 27 February, Kurdish fighters managed to capture 103 villages and hamlets around the town of Tal Hamis, as well as Tal Hamis itself  while on 1 March, Kurdish fighters reportedly burned a number of houses that belonged to ISIL militants or ISIL-allied fighters in two dozen Arab villages around Tal Hamis that they recaptured from ISIL. On 28 February, ISIL executed 15 Assyrian Christians, 14 of them fighters. Another 13 Christian fighters were being held.
  By 28 February, since the start of the offensive, the fighting had left at least 175–211 ISIL militants and 75 Kurdish and allied fighters dead. In the period during the offensive, between 21 February and 1 March, the US-led coalition conducted 24 airstrikes, striking 18 ISIL tactical units and destroying seven ISIL vehicles.
  Kurdish forces were reportedly planning to build on their advances and capture Tell Abyad, thus connecting the Kobanî Canton to the Jazira Canton.
  In the meantime, on the same day that the Kurds captured Tal Hamis, Syrian government forces launched their own offensive against ISIL, and by 2 March, had captured 23–31 villages, with their ultimate aim being to take control of the main road linking the provincial capital of Al-Hasakah to the city of Qamishli. Another report put the number of captured villages at 33. 13 of the villages were seized within 24 hours of the start of the assault. Meanwhile, Kurdish-Arab allied forces were continuing to fight ISIL outside Tell Tamer.
  By 3 March, 24 of the kidnapped Christians were released by ISIL after ransoms were paid.
  On 4 March, Syrian government forces advanced further and captured several villages, while ISIL continued shelling Kurdish fighters near Tell Tamer. After the losses suffered in the previous days, ISIL forces retreated towards the areas of al-Hawl and Shaddadi.
  On of 6 March, the Syrian Army advanced down Highway 7 up to 15–20 kilometers from Tell Brak and stopped. It was also reported that fierce clashes between ISIL and the YPG had erupted to the east of Al-Hasakah city, as ISIL was trying to prevent Kurdish forces from reaching one of its last remaining strongholds in al-Hawl. The clashes from 5–6 March resulted in the deaths of 11 more YPG fighters.
  On 7 March, ISIL launched a massive attack on villages around Tell Tamer, with fears ISIL militants would use the kidnapped Assyrians as human shields. The attack began around dawn and targeted at least three villages on the northern bank of the Khabur River, with ISIL's aim being to capture Tell Tamer and secure a corridor to the Iraqi border. The next day, ISIL advanced close to the town and heavy fighting ensued, but Kurdish reinfo
caption: Syriac Military Council fighters near Tell Tamer, February 2015
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