Kurdish Armour Against ISIS: YPG/SDF tanks, technicals and AFVs in the Syrian Civil War, 2014-19

One of the most remarkable mechanized campaigns of recent
years pitted the brutal and heavily armed jihadis of Islamic State against an
improvised force belonging to the Kurdish YPG (later the SDF). While some
Kurdish vehicles were originally from Syrian Army stocks or captured from ISIS,
many others were extraordinary homemade AFVs based on truck or digger
mechanicals, or duskas, the Kurds’ version of the technical. Before US
air power was sent to Syria, these were the Kurds’ most powerful and mobile
weapons.

Co-written by a British volunteer who fought with the Kurds and an academic expert on armoured warfare, this study explains how the Kurds built and used their AFVs in the war against ‘Daesh’, and identifies as far as possible which vehicles took part in major battles, such as Kobane, Manbij and Raqqa. With detailed new artwork depicting the Kurds’ range of armour and many previously unpublished photos, this is an original and fascinating look at modern improvised mechanized warfare.