Raqqa Hawks Brigade

The Raqqa Hawks Brigade was originally formed as battalion of the Front of Raqqa Revolutionaries[16] in early 2015,[8] but left the group sometime during 2016.[16] The Russian Armed Forces[13] and the Israeli Begin–Sadat Center have described the Raqqa Hawks Brigade as Free Syrian Army-affiliated faction,[17] but there have also been allegations that the militia is actually loyal to the Syrian government.[11][18] For example, a representative of the Raqqa Hawks reportedly met with Ba'ath Party officials in Qamishli in September 2016.[11] Members of the militia have stated that their primary aim was revenge against ISIL in general and to free their homelands from ISIL's regime.[7]

In December 2015, the Russian Armed Forces General Staff claimed that the Russian Air Force bombed ISIL targets north of Raqqa to support the Ghanim group, part of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade.[13]

When the group joined the campaign to capture Raqqa in November 2016,[14] it had around 1,000 fighters and was expected to be a "key component of the fight for the city".[12] The Raqqa Hawks Brigade possesses several technicals and gun trucks, the latter of which were mostly captured from ISIL.[19] In mid-November, the Raqqa Hawks Brigade took part in the several days-long battle for Tal Saman, the ISIL headquarters in the northern Raqqa countryside.[1]

In December, tensions rose between the Front of Raqqa Revolutionaries and the Raqqa Hawks Brigade, with several military commanders of the former reportedly defecting to the latter. On 27 December, however, the Front of Raqqa Revolutionaries commanders claimed on video that they had been kidnapped by the Raqqa Hawks Brigade and forced to announce their defection, and that they were still loyal to their old group.[20][21]

On 20 February 2017, one sub-commander of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade, Abu Yamen al-Meko, who reportedly had strong links to the Military Intelligence Directorate, declared his loyalty to Bashar al-Assad and formed the pro-government unit "Northern Union".[9] His followers consequently raised the Ba'athist flag at their headquarters in the village of al-Fares. These actions, however, provoked the Front of Raqqa Revolutionaries' ire, which launched a surprise attack on al-Fares two days later and destroyed al-Meko's faction, killing or capturing its members. The Front of Raqqa Revolutionaries went on to declare that it "would never allow the regime and its supporting militia to re-enter the city [of Raqqa] by any means".[5][10]

The flag of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade, among other SDF flags, on Tabqa Dam.

On 11 April, the US Air Force mistakenly bombed a position held by the Raqqa Hawks Brigade near the city of al-Thawrah and killed around 17 fighters from the group. BBC producer Riam Dalati went on to claim that the airstrike had been called in by the YPG, which was denied by YPG spokesman Rêdûr Xelîl. The killed fighters were buried with full military honors on the next day near Tell Abyad, with thousands of locals participating in the funeral.[2][22][23] The Carter Center claimed that the Raqqa Hawks blamed the YPG for the bombing, and had declared that they would leave the entire Raaqa campaign.[24] This was contradicted by the fact that the group continued to fight alongside the YPG for Raqqa in the following months.[18]

According to a pro-Syrian opposition news outlet, a minor skirmish between the YPG and Raqqa Hawks Brigade fighters took place in northern Tell Abyad in late May. The reason for this incident allegedly was that the YPG had attempted to arrest Raqqa Hawks Brigade members who were suspected of supporting the Assad government.[25]

Following the conquest of al-Thawrah, the Raqqa Hawks Brigade took part in the advance on Raqqa,[26] and was among the SDF units that took part in the assault on the city in June 2017,[15][27] taking part in the fight for its Roman neighborhood.

On 26 August 2017, the YPG raided the headquarters of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade's Ghanim group in Tell Abyad and captured 15 fighters, including the commander of the group, Fayad Ghanim, in addition to seizing their weapons. Several other fighters from the group fled to Syrian government-controlled territory in the eastern Raqqa countryside. The YPG accused the Ghanim group of coordinating with government forces during their offensive near the area.[8] Despite his purported arrest, Fayad Ghanim too eventually managed to flee into government-controlled areas, where he met and was photographed with the head of the Tiger Forces, Suheil al-Hassan.[28]

Overall, several commanders of the Raqqa Hawks Brigade defected to the government over the course of 2017, and according to WINEP, the loyalty of those who stayed with the SDF remains "dubious".[29] By 2018, a unit known as "Raqqa Hawks Brigade" had become active as part of the pro-government Tiger Forces.[30][31] It is unclear whether this unit has any relation to the SDF group of the same name. The pro-opposition news site Zaman al Wasl news site continued to list the Raqqa Hawks Brigade as an SDF member group in early 2019.[32]

• Favier, Agnes (February 2018). Syria After Islamic State: "Everything Needs to Change, So Everything Can Stay the Same"? (PDF). Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.