Battle of Ras al - Ayn The Battle of Ras al - Ayn was a battle for control of the town of Ras al - Ayn ( ) mainly between Kurdish separatists and armed groups of the Syrian opposition , with the occasional involvement of the Syrian Armed Forces . Battle . First phase . On 8 November , the FSA attacked Syrian army positions in Ras al - Ayn and later released video showed FSA fighters in control of the town . Al - Kurdiya News correspondent on the ground also said that local Kurds aided the FSA in the attack . According to Turkish journalist Mehmet Aksakal two Turks have been injured in the border town of Ceylanpınar . He also suggested that clashes may be result of growing dissatisfaction between KNC and PYD . However , another Kurdish activist claimed that even though PYD had their armed wing in the city , it was controlled fully by the government and PYD did not participate in clashes . Around 10 - 26 rebels and 20 Syrian soldiers were killed in the fighting , while about 8 , 000 residents fled to Ceylanpınar as fighting raged . On 10 November , YPG militiamen aided by local Kurds stormed the last government security and administrative stations in the towns of Al - Darbasiyah ( ) and Tel Tamer . This attack was prompted by violence in Ras al - Ayn where the FSA stormed the town because of the presence of government security units . It also left only 2 major towns in hands of government in Al - Hasakah Governorate - Al - Hasakah and Qamishli . The following day , an airstrike conducted on Ras al - Ayn by the Syrian Air Force killed at least 16 individuals in the town . On 13 November , YPG militia forced out remaining security units from the town of Al - Malikiyah ( ) , in order to prevent FSA from having an excuse to launch an attack like in Ras al - Ayn . On 14 November , FSA fighters took control of an army post near Ras al - Ayn , reportedly killing 18 soldiers based there . On 15 November , FSA announced that they had taken full control of Ras al - Ayn capturing or killing the last remaining Syrian Army soldiers stationed there . There were also no government airstrikes in the town for the first time in the past 3 days as Government forces appeared to have given up in trying to retake the city . On 19 November , the FSA launched an assault on a PYD checkpoint in Ras al - Ayn that initially left six rebels dead . The rebels also assassinated Abed Khalil , the president of the local Kurdish PYD council , when a sniper shot him dead . The next day it was reported by SOHR that the death toll in the rebel - PYD fighting in the town had reached 34 . 29 of the dead were members of the rebel Islamist Al - Nusra Front and the Gharba al - Sham battalion . The other five included four Kurdish fighters and the Kurdish official . The four Kurdish fighters were reportedly executed after being captured by the rebels . The opposition activist group the LCC put the number of dead at 46 : 25 Kurdish and 20 FSA fighters and the official . 35 Kurds and 11 FSA fighters were captured by both sides . As a result of the fighting , there has been a build up in the number of forces deployed by both sides in Ras al - Ayn . By 22 November , Kurdish forces had strengthened their numbers to around 400 militiamen , who faced 200 fighters from the al - Nusra Front and 100 fighters from Ghuraba al - Sham , supported by 3 captured Syrian Army tanks . On 19 November , members of the al - Nusra Front and Ghuraba al - Sham opened fire on a YPG checkpoint , sparking clashes that killed dozens of people , including at least three rebel leaders . A Kurdish activist stated that the presence of hostile Islamist fighters had alienated Kurdish locals . Both the Kurdish National Council and top FSA commander General Riad al - Asaad condemned the clashes , with the KNC calling the presence of rebel fighters in the town " pointless and unjustifiable " , and al - Asaad attributing the violence to " some groups trying to exploit the situation in order to blow up relations between Kurds and Arabs " while expressly denying any FSA affiliation with Ghuraba al - Sham . On 22 November , SOHR reported that eight members of the al - Nusra Front and one PYD fighter were killed in fighting for Ras al - Ayn . The fighting had claimed an estimated 54 lives to date . The next day , however , a tenuous two - day ceasefire was announced between Kurdish fighters and Islamist militants of the al - Nusra Front and Ghuraba a - Sham in order to determine terms of a possible permanent agreement between the two sides . Prior to this announcement , the PYD claimed that its forces had killed 25 rebels , wounded 20 more , and destroyed three vehicles . Negotiations on 24 December resulted in a fragile truce that lasted only until 6 December , when clashes broke out once again . On 3 December , air raids conducted by the Syrian Air Force on a police station and old post office in the Mahatta neighbourhood killed twelve and injured dozens more . Among the dead were six Kurds , three of them children . Ambulances from Turkey took at least 21 of the wounded to a hospital in the predominantly - Kurdish town of Ceylanpınar across the border . Turkey scrambled a number of F - 16 fighter jets based at Diyarbakir in response to the strikes . From 12 to 14 December , rebels conducted a series of rocket attacks on the town . It was reported that they had also tried and failed to expand fighting to the nearby towns and villages . First ceasefire . Negotiations between rebels and Kurds resumed on 15 December . An agreement was reached the next day , and on 17 December a ceasefire took effect between local Kurdish militias and Arab rebels . Under the terms of the ceasefire , both sides were to withdraw from the city , share checkpoints surrounding it , and transfer its administration to local civilian Kurds , Arabs , Chechens , and Christians . But though fighting had ended , fighters on both sides failed to withdraw , raising concerns about the strength of the truce . Signs of improved relations between the PYD and the rebels emerged at the YPG ' s first plenary meeting in al - Malikiyah from 1 to 5 January 2013 . In addition to organising their military command structure , the PYD members at the meeting stressed " the unity of the struggle of the Syrian people " and the importance of having good relations with the Arab opposition . Significantly , they raised the flag of the Free Syrian Army next to the PYD flag ; prior to this , YPG units were known for kidnapping and intimidating individuals and groups who displayed the flag in their territory . Second phase . On 17 January 2013 , it was reported that about 300 rebel fighters crossed into Ras al - Ayn at dawn from the Syrian / Turkish border and fierce clashes between rebel and Kurdish forces was underway . During the fighting , the Kurds captured one of three jihadist tanks that came in from the border . Three PYD and seven rebel fighters were killed in the clashes . Rebel leader Nawaf Ragheb al - Bashir accused the YPG of breaking the ceasefire by opening fire on and killing 15 of its fighters . By 19 January , 33 people lost their lives in the fighting . 28 of them were rebel jihadists and five were Kurdish militiamen . In more fighting on 21 January , a Kurdish commander and 20 rebels were killed , along with four civilians . On 22 and 24 January , two more Kurdish commanders were killed , while on 25 January two rebels and one Kurdish fighter were killed . Kurdish refugees fleeing the fighting accused the rebels of having " no respect " for Kurdish civilians still living in the town . Also on 25 January , FSA members in Ras al - Ayn kidnapped four members of the Azadî Party , a Kurdish party politically opposed to the PYD , demanding the release of a prisoner held by the PYD . On 28 January , rebels attacked the governorate building and the police building in the city , resulting in heavy clashes . By the next day , Kurdish forces had captured several buildings which were being used as strongpoints by the rebels . That evening , a large number of rebels reportedly crossed over from Turkey as clashes intensified ; rebel numbers were allegedly dwindling prior to these reinforcements . Five rebels were seriously wounded in clashes , with one dying in a Turkish hospital soon after , and an additional three or four fell in combat with Kurdish groups . Their bodies were reportedly buried in Turkey . Two days later , it was reported that YPG forces captured an ambulance with French tags and carrying documents written in French . The YPG accused Turkey of using ambulances to shuttle arms and equipment to Arab rebels fighting against Kurds in the city . By 30 January , the YPG had pushed rebels back from parts of the city , claiming the recapture of an Assyrian Christian church . On that day , FSA members kidnapped , tortured , and killed a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria ( commonly referred to as " el - Partî " ) , which is part of a bloc of Kurdish parties politically opposing the PYD . When relatives and el - Partî members sought to bring the body to a coroner ' s office in al - Darbasiyah , they were refused passage at a YPG checkpoint . The man was buried the following day in the village of Faqira . Second ceasefire . Despite the breakdown of the first ceasefire , efforts continued to bring peace back to the town . On 23 January , Syrian opposition members formed an eight - member committee to serve as a mediator between the PYD / YPG and Arab rebels . One member of the Kurdish National Council , a bloc of opposition Kurdish parties largely sympathetic to the mainstream Arab oppostion , was included on the committee . In early February , talks began to attempt to establish a second ceasefire between Arab rebels and Kurdish militia , temporarily halting fighting . Members of the Kurdish Supreme Council met with delegates from the Arab opposition to discuss the terms of the agreement , which was planned to be applicable to the entirety of Syrian Kurdistan and not just Ras al - Ayn . Nevertheless , some Kurdish activists were sceptical that both warring sides desired such an agreement , while the FSA - aligned Arab Revolutionary - Military Council in Hasakah Province refused any truce with Kurdish separatists , stating that it only would accept the domination of the mainstream Syrian opposition over the region . Michel Kilo , a Christan member of the Syrian opposition , presided over much of the negotiations . Bitter disagreements were reported during the negotiation process , which seemed close to failure on several occasions . The FSA - affiliated Revolutionary Military Council in Hasakah Province demanded that the town and border crossing be handed over to the sole political control of the SNC , that FSA - affiliated fighters be the only force exercising military control in the town , that the PYD submit to the SNC as the sole legitimate governing force in the region , and that the display of Kurdish flags in Hasakah Province be prohibited . Kurdish parties flatly rejected these conditions , proposing instead that fighters from both parties leave the city , transferring its administration to a joint council composed by political representatives from both sides . On 19 February , a new agreement was announced between Arab rebels and YPG fighters in Ras al - Ayn following a weeklong truce . The terms of the agreement stipulated the withdrawal of all foreign fighters from the town , the establishment of joint FSA - YPG checkpoints which will allow for greater freedom of movement in and out of the town , the creation of a democratic local council tasked with the administration of the town and its border crossing , the planned future establishment of a cooperative Arab - Kurdish police force in the town , and — most significantly — the cooperation between the YPG and FSA to fight together against government forces in the region . In its signing the agreement , the FSA acted on behalf of all Arab rebel groups in the area except for Jabhat al - Nusra and Ghuraba al - Sham , who agreed separately to abide by the agreement . Michel Kilo stated that most of the fighters from both sides withdrew in a timely fashion . Nevertheless , some activists remained dismissive of the strength of the agreement , expressing doubts over the willingness of Islamists — particularly Ghuraba al - Sham — to respect Kurdish rights in the region . One Kurdish activist stated , " Either side can break the agreement at any moment . . . The FSA military council is not strong in the area , and its leadership has made contradicting statements in the past . From my point of view , this accord is empty . " Three days after the agreement was signed , FSA commander - in - chief Salim Idris rejected it , citing the PYD ' s connections to the PKK and Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish groups in his decision . Analysts believed that the repudiation was designed to placate Turkey , who had been actively supporting Arab rebels fighting the Kurds in Ras al - Ayn . Third phase . On 17 July , Kurdish fighters expelled the jihadists from the town of Ras al - Ain after a night of fighting and soon after took control of the border crossing with Turkey . 11 people were killed during the fighting , including nine jihadist and two Kurdish fighters . Strategic analysis . According to PYD leader Salih Muslim Muhammad , Arab rebel control of Ras al - Ayn would have two effects . First , it would isolate Kurdish separatist pockets in Aleppo Province from the main area in Hasakah Province , giving the FSA and its affiliates more leverage over the PYD / YPG . Second , it would secure a vital supply line from Turkey that could potentially enable Arab rebels to seize control over greater parts of Syria ' s east , including the city of Hasakah itself . Rebel leader Nawaf Ragheb al - Bashir , a prominent Arab tribal figure from Hasakah Province who has engaged in disputes with Kurds in the past , stated that his forces " will not allow the separatists to control [ Hasakah ] province because it is the richest part of Syria in terms of oil and agriculture " . The PYD routinely accuses Turkey of supporting Arab rebels fighting against their YPG units in Ras al - Ayn . Arab rebel leaders have publicly confirmed this support .