People's Defense Units

People's Defense Units
People's Defense Units
Yekîneyên Parastina Gel
	Flag of the YPG
Active	2011–present
Allegiance	Kurdish Supreme Committee (2011–2013); Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (2013–present); Democratic Union Party (2012–present)
Type	Paramilitary; Light infantry; Motorized infantry
Size	76,000 (2017 estimate); 35,000-50,000 (2025 Turkish estimate)
Part of	Syrian Democratic Forces
Engagements	Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency; Syrian Civil War Rojava conflict 2012 Rojava campaign; Rojava–Islamist conflict; ; Battle of Aleppo Northern Aleppo offensive (February 2016); ; Al-Hasaka campaign (2012–13) Battle of Ras al-Ayn; ; Battle of Tell Abyad (2013); Battle of al-Yaarubiyah; Battle of Tell Hamis and Tell Brak (2013–2014); Siege of Kobanî; US intervention in the Syrian civil war; Al-Hasakah offensive; Battle of Sarrin; Tell Abyad offensive; Battle of Al-Hasakah; Al-Hawl offensive; Tishrin Dam offensive; Al-Shaddadi offensive; Battle of Tell Abyad (2016); Northern Raqqa offensive; Manbij offensive (2016); Battle of al-Hasakah (2016); Operation Euphrates Shield; Western al-Bab offensive (October–November 2016); Raqqa campaign (2016–2017); Operation Olive Branch; Eastern Syria Insurgency; Deir ez-Zor campaign (2017–2019); 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria; 2024 Syrian opposition offensives Battle of Aleppo (2024); Operation Dawn of Freedom; Deir ez-Zor offensive (2024); ; Turkish offensive into northeastern Syria (2024–2025); East Aleppo offensive (2024–2025); ; War in Iraq (2013–2017) 2014 Sinjar offensive; 2015 Sinjar offensive; ;
Website	Official website
Commanders
General Commander	Sipan Hamo (until 2026)
Spokesperson	Nuri Mahmoud
Notable; commanders	Zainab Afrin; Nalîn Dêrik; Sozdar Dêrik; Serhildan Garisî; Rêdûr Khalil

The People's Defense Units, Kurdish abbreviation YPG, also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The YPG mostly consists of Kurds, but also includes Arabs and foreign volunteers; it is closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, an Assyrian militia. The YPG was formed in 2011. It expanded rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and came to predominate over other armed Syrian Kurdish groups. A sister militia, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), fights alongside them. The YPG is active in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava), particularly in its Kurdish regions.

In early 2015, the group won a major victory over the Islamic State (IS) during the siege of Kobanî, where the YPG began to receive air and ground support from the United States and other Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve militaries. Since then, the YPG has primarily fought against IS, as well as on occasion fighting other Syrian rebel groups and the Turkish Armed Forces. In late 2015, the YPG became part of the SDF, an umbrella group intended to better incorporate Arabs and minorities into the war effort. In 2016–2017, the SDF's Raqqa campaign led to the liberation of the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital. Several western sources have described the YPG as the "most effective" force in fighting IS in Syria.

According to Turkey and Qatar, the YPG is a terrorist organization due to its association with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization. The flag of the YPG is also a banned symbol in Germany as per Strafgesetzbuch section 86a, although the organization itself is not recognised as terrorist. The Turkish terror classification is not shared by key international bodies in the fight against the Islamic State in which the YPG takes part. Due to this Turkish view, US Army Special Operations Commander General Raymond Thomas suggested the YPG to change their name, after which the name of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was founded.