[30] During the first week of the offensive, SDF forces captured a number of villages and other positions from ISIL near Al-Hawl, and to the southeast of Al-Hasakah city.

[42] By this time, the SDF forces had reportedly captured over 36 villages, 350 square kilometers of land, and killed 178 ISIL militants.

[10] On 11 November, the SDF continued its offensive and captured al-Khatuniyah, northeast of Al-Hawl, while also advancing in the southern countryside of Al-Hasakah city.

[11][45] On 13 November, SDF forces captured the town of Al-Hawl, killing dozens of ISIL militants and seizing large quantities of weapons and ammunition left behind.

[2][46] On 14 November, SDF forces captured three villages around Mount Abdulaziz, and also advanced near the Tishreen Oil Field, while ISIL detonated an VBIED near Al-Hawl.

[6] During the next week, the SDF continued their offensive, advancing from the Regiment 121 base to the south, and from Al-Hawl towards the southwest, capturing multiple villages in the southern Al-Hasakah countryside and along the Sinjar-Al-Shaddadi road (Highway 47).

[7] On 22 November, SDF reached the northern part of the South Hasakah Dam,[51] capturing the neighboring village of Taban.

On 25 November, SDF forces captured the village of Ghunah, near the Jabisah Oil Field, to the southwest of Al-Hawl, and severing a segment of Highway 715.

[56] On 27 January 2016, it was reported that ISIL had banned civilians from leaving Al-Shaddadi, in an attempt to use them as human shields in the event of an SDF offensive on the city.

[citation needed] On February 21, SDF forces advanced further southward, coming within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, and capturing the town of Markada.