Syrian Democratic Forces People's Protection Units (YPG) TİKKO[1] Afrin Liberation Forces (HRE) Syrian Democratic Forces Insurgent groups Syrian National Army National Front for Liberation Per SOHR:[5] 86 killed Per SDF:[6][7] 65 killed Per Turkey:[8][9] Per SOHR: 175 killed[10][11] 18 killed[12] Per SDF:[6][7] 971 killed Foreign intervention in behalf of Syrian rebels U.S.-led intervention against ISIL 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Operation Euphrates Shield Idlib operations Operation Olive Branch Operation Peace Spring Spillover into Turkey The SDF insurgency in northern Syria was a campaign of armed attacks carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), following the expansion of the Turkish occupation of northern Syria after the early 2018 Operation Olive Branch carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA).

Shortly after the defeat of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the Afrin Region, the spokeswoman for the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (Syria) (PYD), had already announced that the SDF would fight Turkish and allied opposition forces using guerrilla tactics.

"[18][19] The "Wrath of Olives" operations room was established in early summer 2018, although the YPG has denied affiliation with the group.

[20] By May 2018, an insurgency had broken out in the Afrin District, as the YPG[21] along with allied militants, as well as an armed insurgent group called the "Afrin Falcons",[22] began carrying out bombings, ambushes and assassinations against the Turkish Army, SNA forces, and civilians sympathetic or affiliated with them.

By mid-2018, the insurgency was mostly focused on the rural areas[21][23] and Afrin city's outskirts, where the Turkish Air Force targeted guerilla holdouts between May and July.