Battle of Sarrin (June–July 2015)

In mid-March 2015, the YPG and the allied Euphrates Volcano (Burkān al-Furāt) forces, backed by Coalition air support, launched an assault towards Sarrin, which was considered the last major ISIL stronghold in the Kobanî countryside. On 25 April 2015, Kurdish forces and their allies surrounded the town on three sides and pushed into its suburbs, after breaching ISIL's defense lines. The YPG claimed that ISIL forces had retreated into the urban areas of the town. By 31 May, clashes erupted in the area that ISIL had recently captured, as YPG-led fighters attempted to retake the area. On 5 June, YPG-led fighters recaptured the village of Jabiriyah, to the east of Mitras, while clashes continued in the area stretching from Sarrin to the Sarrin Grain Silos. ISIL retook the western part of the Sarrin, while YPG-led fighters pushed towards the eastern outskirts of the town. ==The battle==

Renewed offensive On 18 June 2015, it was reported that the FSA and YPG had launched a new offensive on the town of Sarrin, with YPG forces attacking from the north, supported by an FSA push from the east. YPG-led fighters also recaptured the village of Mitras. On 25 June 2015, it was reported that around 175–400 ISIL militants were present in the Sarrin area. On 30 June, YPG-led fighters launched an operation to capture the town of Sarrin, in retaliation for the Kobanî massacre. On 1 July, YPG-led forces had re-established the sieges of the Sarrin Grain Silos and Khirbat al-Burj, and pushed towards Sarrin from the north. The YPG also captured the remaining hills and villages to the west of Sarrin. On 2 July, YPG and FSA forces to the southeast of Sarrin advanced westward, towards the village of Magharatayn, threatening the last ISIL supply route to the south of Sarrin. On the same day, it was reported that YPG-led forces captured the villages of Magharatayn and Malhah, to the south of Sarrin, severing the last supply route to Sarrin, and fully besieging the town. In response, ISIL carried out multiple vehicle bomb attacks in the area. On 7 July, ISIL was reportedly sending reinforcements to the south of Sarrin, in an attempt to break the siege of the town. At the same time, ISIL forces in Sarrin advanced southward towards Malhah, in an attempt to reopen the cut supply route. On 9 July, US-led Coalition airstrikes were reported to have dispersed ISIL forces in Sarrin into parts of the outskirts, whom were trying to avoid further airstrikes. On the same day, YPG led-forces tightened the siege of the town, and pushed into the eastern neighborhood of Sarrin. Later on the same day, YPG and FSA counterattacks halted the ISIL advance in the area, with YPG-led forces recapturing some of the lost villages. Later on 18 July, YPG-led forces recaptured the village of Mitras, with the village of Qal at Hadid being fully secured by YPG-led forces on the next day. By 19 July, YPG and FSA fighters had recaptured the segment of the M4 Highway in the region, fully besieging ISIL fighters in the Sarrin Grain Silos once again, and capturing multiple villages to the east and the west of Sarrin. On 22 July, ISIL attempted to recapture Mitras and to cross the M4 Highway again; however, this attack was repelled by multiple US-led Coalition airstrikes and a YPG-led counterattack. Around the same time, it was reported that heavy clashes had broken out around the urban areas of Khirbat al-Burj and Sarrin. Meanwhile, the ISIL fighters left in the Sarrin Grain Silos remained besieged by YPG-led forces. On 24 July, YPG-led forces advanced again, crossing the highway and capturing the village of Malhah, once again cutting off ISIL's last supply route to Sarrin. Heavy fighting continued around the urban areas of Sarrin. It was reported that the Euphrates Volcano (Burkan Al-Firat) forces had been pounding Sarrin with artillery for the past week, and that ISIL shot at civilians who tried to leave the town. Later on the same day, in response to the YPG and FSA advances, ISIL attacked YPG fighters on the road between Magharatayn and Malhah, which ran into the southern part of Sarrin, before firing mortar bombs on the area after their initial attack failed. YPG-led forces captured the grain silos shortly afterwards. Later on the same day, YPG and FSA forces were reported to have secured most of the southern portion of Sarrin, after heavy US-led Coalition airstrikes. YPG fighters also attacked suspected ISIL militants between the villages of Geydade and Sina, to the northwest of Sarrin, killing five ISIL militants. On the night of 26 July, YPG-led forces captured the security center at the center of Sarrin, while ISIL militants were said to have run out of ammunition. Around the same time, a convoy of ISIL fighters from Sarrin attempted to escape across the Euphrates River; however, the YPG destroyed the convoy, killing 17 ISIL militants. On the same day, YPG-led forces fully captured the town of Sarrin from ISIL. ==Aftermath==

On 29 July, the SOHR reported that violent clashes had erupted between the YPG and ISIL at the banks of the Euphrates River, near Sarrin, which resulted in casualties on both sides. On 30 July, an ISIL sleeper in Sarrin, as well as some ISIL fighters from the village of Serekaniye, in the northeastern Aleppo Province, managed to infiltrate the eastern part of Sarrin, dressed up as civilians. The ISIL militants launched a suicide attack and a gun battle. The attack was eventually repelled by Euphrates Volcano forces, and resulted in the deaths of 9 ISIL militants and 13 YPG fighters. On the night of 4 August, YPG-led fighters conducted an operation near the village of Milha, to the south of Sarrin, killing a number of ISIL fighters. ==Strategic analysis==

Sarrin has been deemed as strategically important, because the town was the last stronghold that ISIL controlled in the countryside of Kobanî, After the capture of Sarrin and the surrounding region, it was expected that ISIL attacks against villages in the Kobanî Canton would be curbed significantly. The capture of Sarrin was also deemed to be a major defeat for ISIL, with the town's capture severing ISIL's main access route to parts of the Aleppo Governorate. ==See also==