Letter from the Executive Board

Greetings delegates,

It would be our absolute pleasure to serve on the Executive Board of FIA Nashik MUN in its 2017 edition. Having heard of the Model UN conference and the kind quality platform it has offered students to engage in fruitful discussion and hone some skills beyond the usual curriculum in the past; we are looking forward to some brilliant debate.

The two agendas, chosen have been in constant global media limelight but the issues themselves have extremely deep rooted causes which one must research and analyse effectively to understand. This is what makes them tough to tackle and should pose an interesting challenge to the delegates. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact either one of us. We would be more than happy to reach out and help.

All the best and happy researching!

Ayush R and Aditya Agarwal Co-Presidents of the Security council

INTRODUCTION TO ISIS or ISIL

Islamic State in and the Levant (ISIL), al-Dawlah al-Islāmiyyah fī al-ʿIrāq wa al- Shām, Arabic abbreviation Dāʿash or Daesh, also called Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and, since June 2014, the Islamic State, transnational Sunni insurgent group operating primarily in western Iraq and eastern . First appearing under the name ISIL in April 2013, the group launched an offensive in early 2014 that drove Iraqi government forces out of key western cities, while in Syria it fought both government forces and rebel factions in the . In June 2014, after making significant territorial gains in Iraq, the group proclaimed the establishment of a caliphate led by the leader of ISIL, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. This very group has been one of the greatest security threats that the globe has faced since the World War 2 and the creation of the . They have successfully captured and controlled large swathes of land in the middle-east, across borders and employs a varied mix of insurgent and guerrilla tactics to maintain control of the same by targeting key defence and civilian establishments. The Islamic State has been a difficult foe to tackle, primarily because they have evolved from being just an insurgent group, to an organisation that administers and controls large swathes of land while creating their own economy of finances and enforcing their own rules of law which they claim is the law of the one true god. This expansion can be drawn parallels to what the Taliban did in Afghanistan but the Islamic State (IS) has become a more efficient and ruthless in terms of how it manages its territory and attempts to continually expand and remain in the limelight by carrying out operations overseas. They have successfully conducted stray attacks by means of recruiting followers and using them to strike fear in the minds of the local populace. Such attacks have been witnessed across America, Europe, Asia and Australia. What sets the IS apart from the Taliban is their online presence and the ability to draw in a large amount of foreign fighters from across the globe. Their online machinery has given them an extremely broad reach and access to recruits across the globe and the means to radicalise normal civilians to become their foot-soldiers and propagate their method of justice.

The Islamic State has also had an extremely strong war chest from the very beginning. They tactically seized oil fields in Iraq and Syria, thereby giving them a revenue model to sustain their operations on ground as well as attacks overseas. Apart from selling oil in the black market, the Islamic State also has several modes to collect donations from their sufficiently wealthy benefactors and their ideological supporters. In addition to this, extortion, kidnappings, smuggling and human trafficking have provided the constant flow of funds for the organisation to engage in. [email protected]

Territorial control

In Iraq and Syria, ISIL/ISIS uses many of the existing Governorate boundaries to subdivide its claimed territory; it calls these divisions Wilayah. After a series of expansions in 2014, it claimed provinces and controlled territory across Iraq, Syria, Sinai, and eastern Libya. The Islamic State also has members in Algeria, , , Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and and but it does not actually control territory in these areas and merely uses their operatives to conduct attacks and incorporate fear in the minds of the civilians. All a part of the propaganda machine that they have successfully created to draw out more followers and stay in the limelight across the world’s media.

Their de-facto caliphate, headquartered at has in the recent times seen a considerable decrease in territorial control. In its peak, the caliphate had over 100,000 square kilometres of territory under its jurisdiction in the middle-east alone. This has today shrunk to almost half of that size with just a little over 50,000 sq. km under its jurisdiction. Most of the progress against the Islamic State can be attributed to military operations by the various factions involved in the region. The Combined Joint action task force (CJTF) as a part of their operation, Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) conducts regular airstrikes targeting Islamic State positions. The same can be said of the Russians who have been providing the air cover for the Syrian Arab Army on Syrian soil. The of America too, employs a similar strategy where they provide air-cover for the Kurdish in their operations against the IS. In addition, both respective militaries have provided logistical assistance in terms of supplying arms and ammunitions for their proxy ground forces. The United States of America also continues to provide arms and ammunition for the Free , who they consider the “legitimate” representative of the people in Syria. There is however, international contention and opposition to this stance of the United States.

Apart from a continuous loss of control over territory in the Middle-East, the ISIS has also lost out territorial control in and Libya almost completely. At present they control negligible amounts of territory in both these countries. There is also a massive reduction of controlled territory in Nigeria, where , an extremist organisation with allegiance to the ISIS and its Caliph has seen its influence and territorial control shrink considerably. Their enforcement of rigorous laws coupled with their infamous practice of kidnapping school girls and selling them in the flesh market.

Human rights abuse

The United Nations' chief investigator stated that "Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) may be added to a list of war crimes suspects in Syria." By June 2014, according to United Nations reports, ISIS had killed hundreds of prisoners of war and over 1,000 civilians. In August 2014, the UN accused ISIS of committing "mass atrocities" and war crimes, including the mass killing of up to 250 Syrian Army soldiers near Tabqa Air base. Other known killing of military prisoners in the early stages of the caliphate took place at Camp Speicher (1,095–1,700 Iraqi soldiers shot and "thousands" more "missing") and the Shaer gas field (200 Syrian soldiers shot). In early September 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council agreed to send a team to Iraq and Syria to investigate the abuses and killings being carried out by the ISIS on "an unimaginable scale". Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged world leaders to step in to protect women and children suffering at the hands of ISIS militants, who he said were trying to create a "house of blood".

Over the next 2-2.5 years, the Islamic State would carry on in its barbaric acts with absolute disregard for human rights and human life. In June 2016, a United Nations mandated Human Rights Inquiry, “The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria” would go on to release a report on the violations committed against the Yazidis in Syria and as a conclusion to the report would go on to recognize that the ISIS was committing a genocide against the Yazidis.

Religious and minority groups

ISIS compels people in the areas that it controls to declare Islamic creed and live according to its interpretation of Sunni Islam and Sharia law. There have been many reports of the group's use of death threats, torture and mutilation to compel conversion to Islam, and of clerics being killed for refusal to pledge allegiance to the so-called "Islamic State". ISIS directs violence against Shia Muslims, indigenous Assyrian, Chaldean, Syriac and Armenian Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Shabaks and Mandeans in particular. has held ISIL responsible for the ethnic cleansing of ethnic and religious minority groups in northern Iraq on a "historic scale". In a special report released on 2 September 2014, it describes how ISIS has "systematically targeted non-Arab and non-Sunni Muslim communities, killing or abducting hundreds, possibly thousands, and forcing more than 830,000 others to flee the areas it has captured since 10 June 2014". Among these people are Assyrian Christians, Turkmen Shia, Shabak Shia, Yazidis, Kaka'i and Sabean Mandeans, who have lived together for centuries in Nineveh province, large parts of which were overrun by IS forces.

Time and again the Islamic State has considered all “non-believers” who do not subscribe to their ideologies as infidels who need to be wiped out from the face of the earth. Apart from forcing conversions at gun-point or killing those who refuse to do so, the Islamic State has continuously implemented the strategy of separating the children of other faiths and beliefs from any surviving relatives and placing them in the care of IS foot soldiers who are tasked with the indoctrination into ISIS beliefs and principles. Treatment of civilians

ISIS has released dozens of videos showing its ill treatment of civilians, many of whom had apparently been targeted on the basis of their religion or ethnicity. In the Iraqi theatre of conflict where the Iraqi forces are in the pursuit of removing Islamic State presence from their cities, the Islamic state engaged in carefully planned guerrilla warfare not restricted to tactics such as ambushing, suicide bombing, car bombing, pretending to be innocent civilians caught in the cross-fire or good Samaritans trying to help the army.

The ISIS carries out executions on both men and women who were accused of various acts and found guilty of crimes against Islam such as homosexuality, adultery, watching pornography, usage and possession of contraband, rape, blasphemy, renouncing Islam and murder. Before the accused are executed their charges are read toward them and the spectators. They carry out executions in various forms such as stoning to death, crucifixions, beheadings and some are thrown from the top storey of tall buildings.

Sexual violence and slavery

There are many reports and allegations of sexual abuse and enslavement in ISIS controlled areas, of women and girls, predominantly from the minority Christian and Yazidi communities. According to one report, ISIS' capture of Iraqi cities in June 2014 was accompanied by an upsurge in crimes against women, including kidnap and rape. A -based women's rights activist, Basma al-Khateeb, said that a culture of violence existed in Iraq against women generally and felt sure that sexual violence against women was happening in Mosul involving not only ISIS but all armed groups. A United Nations report issued on 2 October 2014, based on 500 interviews with witnesses, said that ISIS took 450– 500 women and girls to Iraq's Nineveh region in August, where "150 unmarried girls and women, predominantly from the Yazidi and Christian communities, were reportedly transported to Syria, either to be given to ISIS fighters as a reward or to be sold as sex slaves". In mid-October, same year, the UN confirmed that 5,000–7,000 Yazidi women and children had been abducted by ISIS and sold into slavery. Somewhere around 2015, The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights announced that ISIL had killed over 150 women and girls in Fallujah who refused to participate in sexual jihad. Even today, one of the primary tactics of the IS to erase ethnic minorities is by killing the men, capturing the women and children and indoctrinating the children into the caliphate. The women are either re-married to the jihadists or sold into slavery. The IS believes that this ensures the practicing of other faiths or beliefs die out as the minorities lose their cultural and religious identity.

Beheadings and mass executions

An unknown number of Syrians and Iraqis, several Lebanese soldiers, two Japanese citizens, multiple Kurdish fighters, two American journalists, one American and two British aid workers, one French citizen, several Afghans and three Libyans have been beheaded by the Islamic State. ISIS uses beheadings to intimidate local populations and has released a series of propaganda videos aimed at Western countries. They also engage in public and mass executions, sometimes forcing prisoners to dig their own graves before shooting lines of prisoners and pushing them in. ISIS was reported to have beheaded about 100 foreign fighters as deserters who tried to leave Raqqa. Fear of execution is what prevents several IS fighters who have had a change of heart from leaving. Several deserters have shared accounts of gruesome torture before

Finances

From 2005 until 2010, outside donations amounted to only 5% of the group's operating budgets, with the rest being raised within Iraq. In the time period studied, cells were required to send up to 20% of the income generated from kidnapping, extortion rackets and other activities to the next level of the group's leadership. Higher-ranking commanders would then redistribute the funds to provincial or local cells that were in difficulties or needed money to conduct attacks. The records show that the was dependent on members from Mosul for cash, which the leadership used to provide additional funds to struggling militants in Diyala, Salahuddin and Baghdad. In mid-2014, Iraqi intelligence obtained information from an ISIS operative which revealed that the organization had assets worth US$2 billion, making it the richest jihadist group in the world. About three quarters of this sum is said to be represented by assets seized after the group captured Mosul in June 2014; this includes possibly up to US$429 million looted from Mosul's central bank, along with additional millions and a large quantity of gold bullion stolen from a number of other banks in Mosul. Exporting oil from oilfields captured by ISIS brings in tens of millions of dollars. One US Treasury official has estimated that ISIS earns approximately about US$1 million a day from the export of oil. Much of the oil is sold illegally in Turkey. Dubai-based energy analysts have put the combined oil revenue from ISIS' Iraqi-Syrian production as high as US$3 million per day.

ISIS also extracts wealth through taxation and extortion. Today the majority of the group's funding comes from the production and sale of energy. It used to control around 300 oil wells in Iraq alone. At its peak, it operated 350 oil wells in Iraq, but lost many of them to foreign airstrikes. It has captured 60% of Syria's total production capacity. About one fifth of its total capacity is in operation. ISIS has had the ability to sell 50,000–60,000 barrels of oil daily at its peak, say some estimates. Foreign sales rely on a long-standing black market to export via Turkey. Many of the smugglers and corrupt Turkish border guards who helped Saddam Hussein to evade sanctions are helping ISIS to export oil and import cash. Energy sales include selling electric power from captured power plants in northern Syria; some of this electricity is reportedly sold back to the Syrian government. Sales of artifacts may be the second largest source of funding for ISIS, according to an article in Newsweek. More than a third of Iraq's important sites are under IS' control. It looted the 9th century BC grand palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at Kalhu. Tablets, manuscripts and cuneiforms were sold, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Stolen artifacts are smuggled into Turkey and Jordan.

ISIS is widely reported to be receiving funding from private donors in the Gulf States, and the governments of Iraq and have repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of financing and supporting the group. Ahead of the conference of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition held in Paris in September 2014, 's foreign minister acknowledged that a number of countries at the table had "very probably" financed ISIS' advances. Although Iran and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar of funding the group, there is reportedly no evidence that this is the case. Since 2012, ISIS has produced annual reports giving numerical information on its operations, somewhat in the style of corporate reports, seemingly in a bid to encourage potential donors. On 11 November 2014, ISIS announced that they intended to mint their own gold, silver and copper coins, based on the coinage used by the in the 7th Century. Following the announcement, the group began buying up gold, silver and copper in markets throughout northern and western Iraq, according to precious metal traders in the area. Members of the group also reportedly began stripping the insulation off power electrical cables in order to obtain the copper wiring. The announcement included designs of the proposed coins, which displayed imagery including a map of the world, a sword and shield, the Al-Aqsa and a crescent moon.

Propaganda

ISIS is known for its extensive and effective use of propaganda. It uses a version of the Muslim flag and developed an emblem which has clear symbolic meaning in the Muslim world.

In November 2006, shortly after the group's rebranding as the "Islamic State of Iraq", the group established the al-Furqan Institute for Media Production, which produces CDs, DVDs, posters, pamphlets, and web-related propaganda products. ISIS' main media outlet is the I'tisaam Media Foundation, which was formed in March 2013 and distributes through the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF). ISIS' use of social media has been described by one expert as "probably more sophisticated than [that of] most US companies". It regularly takes advantage of social media, particularly Twitter, to distribute its message by organizing hash tag campaigns, encouraging Tweets on popular hash tags, and utilizing software applications that enable ISIL propaganda to be distributed to its supporters' accounts. Another comment is that "ISIS puts more emphasis on social media than other jihadi groups. They have a very coordinated social media presence." In August 2014, Twitter administrators shut down a number of accounts associated with ISIL. ISIL recreated and publicized new accounts the next day, which were also shut down by Twitter administrators. The group has attempted to branch out into alternative social media sites, such as Quitter, Friendica and Diaspora; Quitter and Friendica, however, almost immediately worked to remove ISIS's presence from their sites.

SUPPORTERS OF ISIS

Memberships of these groups have declared support for ISIL, either fully or in part.

1. Boko Haram (Nigeria)

2. Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters

3. Jemaah Islamiyah

4. Ansar al-Sharia (Tunisia)

5. Ansar al-Sharia (Libya)

6. Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem

7. Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

Global Coalition to Counter the ISIS

The Global Coalition to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Daesh), also referred to as the Counter-ISIL Coalition or Counter-DAESH Coalition, is a US-led group of nations and non-state actors that have committed to "work together under a common, multifaceted, and long-term strategy to degrade and defeat ISIL/Daesh". According to a joint statement issued by 59 national governments and the European Union, participants in the Counter-ISIL Coalition are focused on multiple lines of effort:

1. Supporting military operations, capacity building, and training;

2. Stopping the flow of foreign terrorist fighters;

3. Cutting off ISIL/Daesh’s access to financing and funding;

4. Addressing associated humanitarian relief and crisis and;

5. Exposing ISIL/Daesh’s true nature (ideological de-legitimization). Operation Inherent Resolve is the operational name given by the US to military operations against ISIL and Syrian al-Qaeda affiliates. Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve is coordinating the military portion of the response. The following multi-national organizations are part of the Counter- ISIL Coalition:

1. European Union – declared to be part, most members are participating;

2. NATO – all 27 members are taking part;

3. Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf or GCC – all six current members and the two pending members, Jordan and Morocco, are taking part.

Part of the Counter-ISIL Coalition engaged in anti-ISIL military operations within their own borders.

1. Iraq

2. Syrian Arab Republic ()

3. Egypt

4. Lebanon

Other states tackling the ISIS 1. Iran - ground troops, training and air power. Exact role has never been clear

2. - arms supplier to Iraqi and Syrian Governments; conducts its own operations.

Other non-state opponents of the ISIS:

1. Arab League - coordinating member response

2. Al-Qaeda

3. Al-Nusra Front - with localized truces and cooperation at times

4. Kurdistan Workers Party of Turkey - ground troops in

5. Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran - ground troops in Iraqi Kurdistan

6. Anonymous Cyber hack group

RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA

The Russian federation parliament approved a military intervention when it was requested the Syrian government. From September 30, 2015 the Russians have been conducting Air strikes in various parts of Syria such as , outskirts of and though they have been successful to a level when combating the IS and ANF, they've also targeted groups such as the FSC, SNF which consists of Syrian citizens who are supporting "Self-Determination". These groups have been declared as extremist groups by the Syrian government and the Russian federation. The tension level between the United States and Russians federation have increased manifold over the course of the Russian operation in the region, because of this as most of these groups have had constant training and military aid from the United States and the Russian campaign have deterred this process. Both sides have faced severe criticism for various reasons in their respective campaigns and the current scenario shows that both parties are reluctant to work with each other.

Over the course of the next year and a half, the Russians would be involved in several confrontations and tense situations with the Western backed nations, especially Turkey, over the shooting down of a Russian Sukhoi, allegedly in Turkish airspace. The Russian authorities begged to disagree and that resulted in a stand-off and souring of relations between Turkey and Russia. A Russian ambassador was also shot and killed in Ankara in the twilight of 2016. UNITED STATE’S 6 POINT PLAN

1) Significantly expand the bombing campaign in Iraq: The American plan, in a nutshell, is to make competent local allies, encourage them to launch ground offensives directed at ISIS territory, and support those ground campaigns with targeted US airstrikes. It's working in northern Iraq, the theory goes, so it should work in the rest of Iraq and Syria.

2) Train and equip the Iraqi army and Kurdish troops: One big problem with the current American strategy is that its ground allies in Iraq aren't super-reliable. An 800-strong ISIS contingent took Mosul, when it was held by 30,000 Iraqi troops. Kurdish peshmerga melted away in the face of the initial ISIS onslaught, ceding territory at an alarming rate.

This resulted in Obama launching a huge effort to improve America's allies in Iraq. Building on ongoing US efforts to train Iraqi and Kurdish troops, 475 new American troops were sent to build up Iraqi security forces. The idea is that more training and better weapons will allow the Iraqi security forces and peshmerga to take — and hold — the territory ISIS currently occupies. This strategy seems to be working finally as the Iraqi forces are pushing to liberate Mosul. 3) Bombing in Syria: The campaign will be designed to take advantage of one of ISIS's major weak points: its supply lines. ISIS "is moving with impunity back and forth between Iraq and Syria, each time gaining arms, gaining manpower, gaining fuel — literally and figuratively — for their fight" a different senior administration official said. "An essential piece of [our campaign] is limiting that freedom of movement."

That'll weaken ISIS, but the real goal of the campaign will be to destroy ISIS's ability to control territory in Syria. The administration, when this strategy was proposed, estimated that'll take at least three years and would require help from allies on the ground.

4) Train and arm the Syrian rebels: Obama planned and spent about $500 million to arm and train the Syrian rebels. The goal was that eventually, the rebels will, ideally, become strong enough to advance in conjunction with American air strikes, clearing ISIS out of the territory it controls and kicking it out for good.

5) Get regional actors like Saudi Arabia and European allies on board to counter ISIS' regional and international influence: Obama also wanted an international buy-in for his plan that comes from two major sources: Sunni governments in the Middle East and America's European allies. The region's Sunni governments played an important role in ISIS' rise — particularly the Gulf monarchies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. They threw money and arms at ISIS when the group lacked resources, allowing it to develop a self-sustaining financial empire grounded in Syrian oil deposits and organized crime schemes.

6) Keep US troops out and stay away from the Syrian and Iranian governments: These are both serious limitations on America's strategy even today. Without US frontline troops, the military effort will be totally dependent on Iraqi and Syrian rebel forces. If these troops don't live up to the administration's promises, then The US may face pressure to put troops on the front lines. With Donald Trump currently holding office, there is no clear cut idea on whether this option is permanently off the table.

Staying away from Assad and Iran may also prove difficult. Assad is sponsored by Iran, and the Syria-Iran axis is one of ISIS' principal enemies in Iraq. To make things more confusing, Iran is sponsoring the Iraqi government's fight against ISIS, but Assad is trying to destroy America's rebel allies in Syria. It seems like some kind of contact between American forces and Iranian-Syrian ones is inevitable.

Military aid to the Iraqi government

United States: had in June 2014 started to send troops to Iraq to secure American interests and assess and advise the Iraqi forces, then President Barack Obama end of September planned to send 1,600 troops to Iraq as "advisers" to the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces. 800 of them would provide security for soldiers and Marines and for property; hundreds would train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces how to fight ISIS. On 8–9 November Obama doubled the number of American soldiers in Iraq to some 3,100. By February there were 4,500 troops. : is shipping non-lethal military equipment to the Iraqi Central Government and the Kurdish Regional Government.

Canada: Then Prime Minister Harper announced on 4 September 2014 that Canada would deploy "about 100" military advisers to be based in Baghdad assisting the Iraqi Military in the fight against ISIS. These personnel are special operations forces which will work closely with US Special Forces to "provide advice that will help the government of Iraq and its security forces be more effective against ISIL", but their role is not expected to be direct combat. CBC News reports that about 100 Canadians will be deployed, primarily to help Kurdish forces.

Italy: has offered to supply weapons, ammunition, and other aid to local forces in Iraq. The then prime minister of Italy Matteo Renzi visited Iraq and the to consider the response to ISIL. He said that without international involvement it would be a "new Srebrenica".

New Zealand: in November 2015 announced that ten military personnel would be sent to the region in order to advise the Iraqi army, with the potential for further personnel being sent to protect the advisers.

Denmark: sent 120 military personnel to Iraq in 2016 to train the Iraqi army.

Spain: has provided 300 instructors to train the Iraqi Army and offered to provide weapons to the Iraqi Army and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, and has stationed a Patriot missile battery and 150 servicemen in Turkey in case of cross-border attacks against its NATO ally.

Role of Kurds

Rojava campaign: At the outset of the Syrian Civil War Kurds remained mainly inactive, with Kurdish militants sporadically clashing with both Assad government forces and the Free Syrian Army over control in north and north-eastern Syria. Since February 2013 Kurdish factions have become more involved with the conflict taking place in Syria, siding with the rebels against the Assad government and signing military and political agreements with rebel factions. Furthermore, while some Islamist Kurds have risen to leadership roles in Islamist factions such as Al-Nusra Front, the main Kurdish opposition group PYD and its armed branch People's Protection Units(YPG) have been battling Al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant since 2012. YPG expelled Al-Nusra Front and ISIS members from the strategic town of Ras al-Ain in Hasaka province and have fought them in northern Raqqa province in July 2013.

Erbil agreement: Anti-government protests had been ongoing in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria since March 2011, as part of the wider Syrian uprising, but clashes started after the opposition Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and (KNC) signed a seven-point agreement on 11 June 2012 in Erbil under the auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani. This agreement, however, failed to be implemented and so a new cooperation agreement between the two sides was signed on 12 July which saw the creation of the Kurdish Supreme Committee as a governing body of all Kurdish- controlled territories.

Kurdish-Islamist conflict:

January–February Islamist offensive and Kurdish counter-offensive of 2015: Jihadist forces attacked the YPG-held town of Manajeer in Hasakah province. However, after four days of fighting, their attack was repelled. 23 Islamist and three Kurdish fighters were killed. During the fighting the YPG also captured at least one tank from the Jihadists. A week later it was reported that the YPG launched an offensive against ISIS bases in Tell Abyad and the YPG claimed to have killed 8 ISIS fighters, including an ISIS commander, during clashes in Girê Spî.

Summer fighting at Tell Abyad and Kobanê: On 1 March, ISIS attacked villages around Tell Abyad but the attack was repelled and left one ISIS fighter killed according to the YPG. On 6 March, YPG claimed to have killed 16 ISIS fighters and destroyed a "military vehicle" in Tell Abyad.

On 14 March, Kurdish sources claimed that YPG and allied forces have killed 35 ISIS fighters in clashes in the countryside of southern Kobane County, which erupted after the ISIS launched an unsuccessful attack towards the Serriin silos. On 1 April, ISIS laid a siege, from three flanks, on Kobanê and launched an artillery attack from Zor Mughar. The YPG ambushed ISIS forces at Kendal, east of Kobanê, killing 12 Azeri fighters and their Kurdish ISIS commander. Fighting raged in Zor Mughar and Kharab Atto while YPG fighters cut off all the roads leading to Kobanê from the western side, to prevent potential attacks by ISIS fighters against the city. Despite YPG control of hills around Sirrin, ISIS forces, backed up by tanks, captured two grain silos and seized the villages.

July Kobane offensive: On 4 July, ISIS, using weapons captured from its attack on Iraq, seized the villages of Zor Maghar, Al-Zyara, and Bayadiyah, near the city of Kobane, after three days of fighting with YPG forces. On 9 July, ISIS advanced towards Kobanî from the east, forcing YPG to withdraw from the villages of Abdi, Kwi, Kendal, Kri and Sor. The clashes led to the deaths of 18 Kurdish fighters on Wednesday alone. On 14 July, the PYD issued a regional call to arms for all Kurds to assist in defending Kobane. Kurdish militants from the PKK were travelling from Turkey to reinforce YPG defensive positions. By this time, at least 10 villages had fallen to the Islamic State's offensive, and ISIS was reportedly lobbing mortars at Kobane. At least two PKK fighters were killed while defending the canton. By the end of July, according to the PYD, the ISIS offensive against Kobane had been repelled, with 685 ISIS fighters being killed. This was seen as the first major victory against the Islamic State and boosted the morale of the ground troops attempted to push back the Islamic State’s growth in the region.

September Kobane offensive: On 17 September, following the capture of a strategic bridge over the , ISIS launched a large offensive using tanks, rockets and artillery in the direction of Kobanî, and within 24 hours captured 21 Kurdish villages. The advance left Kobane encircled by ISIS forces. On 19 September, ISIS captured 39 more villages, bringing their forces within 20 kilometers of Kobane. 45,000 crossed into Turkey, fearing an ISIS takeover of the region, while a number of refugees were stopped at the border and ordered to return to Kobane by Turkish authorities.

By 21 September, ISIS captured 64 villages as their forces came within 10 kilometers of the city, and continued to advance with fighting concentrated on the southern and eastern suburbs of Kobanê, 13 kilometers from the town. On 28 September, after violent clashes with the Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units (YPG) the ISIS militants captured the villages Kenana, Qadaa, and Hamadaneh in the Tel Kocher (Yarubiyah) countryside.

Merger with Iraqi campaign: Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, with the aid of troops from the Syria-based Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), took control of the Rabia border crossing between the two countries, marking the first major battle to straddle both. On 31 October, Peshmerga troops crossed into Syria from Turkey to aid in the defense of the border city of Kobane. Kobane has ever since, successfully been under the control of the Kurds and they have been using Kobane as a launch pad for future operations.

United States arms the Kurdish Forces

The U.S. military says its cargo planes have delivered weapons, ammunition and medical supplies from Kurdish authorities in Iraq to Kurds battling Islamic State militants in northern Syria. They also highlighted a surge of resources the Islamic State group has sent toward Kobane in the past few weeks, saying that has provided an opportunity for U.S. military operations to target the group's "finite resources." The officials described the people of Kobane as being at risk of massacre, and said delivering supplies was not only a humanitarian mission but also a way to strike a blow against the militants.

REFUGEE CRISIS

Refugees of the Syrian Civil War, widely referred as the Syrian refugees, are Syrian nationals, who have fled Syria with the escalation of the Syrian Civil War. To escape the violence, roughly two and a half million Syrian refugees have fled the country to neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, while thousands also ended up in more distant countries of the Caucasus, the Persian Gulf and North Africa. In August 2012, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that the number of registered Syrian refugees had reached over 200,000, exceeding the UNHCR estimate of 185,000 for the entire year. Also according to the United Nations, by 2012, 6 million people inside Syrian needed help and about 4 million Syrians were internally because of the Syrian Civil War. By 21 November 2014, at least 7.6 million people had been internally displaced.

By early 2013, the UNHCR announced that the number of refugees had topped 1 million, and by March 2013 had risen to 1,204,707 people. A spokeswoman for UNHCR, Sybilla Wilkes, also reported that the rate of flight from Syria was increasing. "In March an average of 10,000 people crossing per day. In February it was 8,000. In January it was 5,000. The numbers keep going up and up." In September 2013, the number of Syrian refugees topped 2 million. On December 2013, UN announced an aid appeal for US$6.5 billion in order to assist the Syrian population - some US$2.3 billion are destined for civilians inside Syria, while US$4.2 billion would go to Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. This was the all- time high humanitarian appeal in UN history. Associated press, in their report, dated 29 August, stated the following facts: One of every eight Syrian has fled, mostly to Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey. 6.5 million others have been displaced within Syria. Nearly half of all Syrians has now been displaced and are attempting to start a fresh life in unknown lands by either sneaking past the border of attempting to make the voyage by boat.

INTERNATIONAL REACTIONS TO REFUGEES:

Iraqi Kurdistan – In March 2012, the Kurdistan Regional Government announced plans to construct a second camp for Syrian nationals fleeing the violence in their country, as Moqebleh at , which was established following the 2004 Al-Qamishli riots, became overcrowded with refugees of the Syrian Civil War. According to the , in the span of one week in August 2013, 37,000 Syrians fled to Iraq, 15,000 of them arriving at the Kawrgosk camp in Kurdish Northern Iraq.

Israel – Israelis from humanitarian groups are in Jordan to assist Syrian refugees fleeing their country's civil war. Ayoob Kara, Israel's then deputy minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee, said that Israelis are assisting children and infants who have been injured in the Syrian military's ongoing violent crackdown throughout Syria. He said Israeli volunteer groups had been providing humanitarian aid in Turkey and Jordan. Syrians injured in clashes with the Syrian army have been allowed to cross the border in the northern Golan Heights to receive medical treatment. In February 2013, seven Syrian refugees were transported to Ziv Medical Center in Safed, Israel. Since the outbreak of the fighting, the Western Galilee Hospital has treated 85 Syrians and Ziv Medical Center has treated several dozen.

Jordan – Jordan began construction of a 30,000 square meter refugee camp in March 2012. Jordan has agreed to create camps to house the swelling numbers of refugees, including one camp already in the works in northern Jordan that could hold up to 113,000 people. Jordan has forcibly returned some newly arriving Palestinians from Syria and threatened others with deportation. Jordan has absorbed some 500,000 Syrian refugees, but Palestinians fleeing Syria are placed in a separate refugee camp, under stricter conditions and are banned from entering Jordanian cities. Since April 2012, Jordanian authorities have also arbitrarily detained Palestinians fleeing Syria in a refugee holding center without any options for release other than to Syria. Jordan was criticized by for singling out . The economics behind Jordan's refugee program have also been a subject of significant domestic contention and anxiety. The Jordanian Ministry of Planning estimated the cost of refugee accommodation to be $851.1 million, or roughly 2 percent of the country's $40 billion GDP. Though much international aid has been promised, so far it has come up several hundreds of millions of dollars short of the total cost. Jordanian government announced the beginning of the month of February its intention to build a camp for Syrian refugees fleeing the escalating violence in their country. As was reported from Turkey for 3,000 refugees crossing the border between the two countries, bringing the total number of registered refugees in Turkey, 9,700 refugees end of February.

Lebanon – As of 8 August 2013, more than 677,702 Syrian refugees are in Lebanon. As the number of Syrian refugees increases, the Lebanese Forces Party, the Kataeb Party, and the Free Patriotic Movement fear the country's sectarianbased political system is being undermined.

Turkey – Turkey has accommodated most of its Syrian refugees in tent cities in , which have been constructed since summer 2011.

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf – The oil-rich Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.) have refused to accept a larger number of Syrian refugees. Qatar – Qatar is sponsoring 42 Syrian refugees as 'guests of the Emir'.

Bahrain – Bahrain rejected reports from Bahraini opposition that they were trying to alter the country's demographics by naturalizing Syrians.

Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia said on 11 January 2013 that they will send $10 million in aid to help Syrian refugees in Jordan.

United States – The United States has sent aid worth $800 million to help Syrian refugees. The U.S. has admitted 90 Syrian refugees since the civil war began. The U.S. has decided to let nearly 2,000 Syrian refugees for permanent resettlement in America.

United Kingdom – will resettle 500 Syrian refugees.

European Union – The European Union has sent aid worth nearly €1,800 million ($2,430 million) in relief and recovery aid for Syrian refugees from both the Commission and Member States. Making it the largest international contributor to Syrian refugees both internally and externally displaced. European assistance reaches up to 80% of the population affected by the crisis.

Sweden – Sweden accepted nearly 8,000 Syrian refugees in 2012, and expects more than twice as many in 2013. In September 2013, Swedish migration authorities ruled that all Syrian asylum seekers will be granted permanent residency and the right to bring their families as well. Sweden is the first EU countries to make this offer.

Brazil – Brazil is the first country in the Americas region to offer humanitarian visas to Syrian refugees. Brazil's embassies in (Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq) countries neighbouring Syria will be responsible for issuing travel visas for people wanting to go there. Claims for asylum will need to be presented on arrival in Brazil. These special humanitarian visas will also be provided to family members living in countries neighbouring Syria.

Germany – Germany has accepted 40,000 refugees until July 2014 and offered to take 25.000 more. Iran - As of early 2014 Iran has sent 150 tons of humanitarian goods including 3,000 tents and 10,000 blankets to the Red Crescents of Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon via land routes to be distributed among the Syrian refugees residing in the three countries.

China – People's Republic of China has donated $200,000 for Syrian refugees.

Canada – Canada will resettle 1,300 Syrian refugees over two years. Canada announced $100 million in humanitarian aid for Syria in June 2013. In January 2014, Canada pledged $105 million to Jordan, of which $100 million was "to promote economic development and deliver basic services, such as education, to Jordanians and Syrian refugees". As of March 2014, "no more than 10 have arrived in Canada."

Colombia – Colombia has accepted Syrian refugees that have asked for asylum within Colombia. The refugees are then reported to the United Nations Refugee Agency in Bogotá, where then they are aided to learn Spanish with support of Pastoral Social, a Colombian NGO that works closely with the UNHCR .

Russia – gave $10 million for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan. Russia also granted over 1000 Syrian refugees asylum.

SOME OF THE INITIAL UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS ON THE SITUATION IN IRAQ AND SYRIA 1. UNSCR 2107 – Situation of Iraq and Kuwait

2. UNSCR 2108 – Tensions in the Middle East

3. UNSCR 2110 – Situation of Iraq

4. UNSCR 2115 – Situation in the Middle East

5. UNSCR 2118 – Chemicals weapons in Syria

6. UNSCR 2129 – Combating Terrorism

7. UNSCR 2123 – Situation in Middle East

8. UNSCR 2139 – Humanitarian aid in Syria

9. UNSCR 2165 – Humanitarian situation in Syria and the establishment of a monitoring mechanism

10. UNSCR 2169 – Condemns ISIL, reaffirms and extends the mandate of UNAMI

11. UNSCR 2170 – Threats to international peace and security caused by ISIL and al-Nusra Front.

UNSC Resolution 2170 of 2014

Through the unanimous adoption of resolution 2170 (2014), under the binding Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, the Council condemned in the strongest terms what it called “gross, systematic and widespread abuse” of human rights by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front. In an annex to the text, it named the individuals subject to the travel restrictions, asset freezes and other measures targeted at Al- Qaida affiliates.

It called on Member States to take national measures to prevent fighters from travelling from their soil to join the groups, reiterating obligations under previous counter-terrorism resolutions to prevent the movement of terrorists, as well as their supply with arms or financial support. It expressed readiness to consider putting on the sanctions list those who facilitated the recruitment and travel of foreign fighters.

Through the resolution, the Council demanded that ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and all other entities associated with Al-Qaida cease all violence and terrorist acts, and immediately disarm and disband. Recalling that their attacks against civilians on the basis of ethnic or religious identity might constitute crimes against humanity, it stressed the need to bring those perpetrators, including foreign fighters, to justice. The Council directed the sanctions monitoring team to report on the continuing threat posed by ISIL and the Front, and their sources of arms, funding, recruitment and demographics, and to present recommendations within 90 days to further address the threat. Is the Demand of ISIS to be recognized as a country Justified?

The 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, According to the article 1 of the Montevideo Convention, The four criteria to be satisfied are: a) A permanent population, b) A defined territory, c) An effective government, and d) A capacity to enter into relations with other States.

Beyond that, two additional requirements that are customarily raised in relation to an entity seeking recognition as a State by the international community: independence and legitimacy.

UNITED NATION’S STAND ON ISIS:

The authors of a UN report accusing the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria called on the international community to bring the group’s leadership to justice. Rolando Gómez from the UN human rights commission mentioned that the report recommended activating mechanisms to bring the commanders of ISIS, including leader and self-styled “caliph” Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi— whom the report said wielded “absolute power” over the group—before an international tribunal such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague.

Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, a Brazilian diplomat and member of the team that drafted the report, told reporters that ISIS’s commanders had “acted willfully” in perpetrating the crimes, for which they were “individually criminally responsible.” The 70-page report, based its findings on interviews with over 300 victims and eyewitnesses, as well as evidence from documents, photographs and video footage released by the group itself. It said the group was committing “egregious violations of binding international humanitarian law and the war crime of murder on a massive scale” in areas under its control in Syria, including the “mass killings of captured fighters and civilians.” Lama Fakih, Syria and Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Asharq Al-Awsat the extensive first-hand and eyewitness reports collected by the UN document would form credible body evidence that could be presented to an international court such as the ICC. She added that the report also recommended bringing figures from the Syrian regime of President Basher Al-Assad to justice, also for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN Security Council already proposed such a move in May 2016, but it was vetoed by members Russia and China. Some of ISIS’s crimes documented in the report included mass shootings, crucifying and beheading civilians, stoning women, recruiting child soldiers, forcing minorities to convert to Islam, as well as taking women as slaves and forcing them to bear children to the group’s fighters. The report also found that the group was depriving food and medical aid to around 600,000 people in northern areas of Syria under its control. Meanwhile, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights—which monitors the conflict in Syria through a network of observers on the ground—said in press release on Friday ISIS had crucified and beheaded a member of the group for stealing money from “state coffers” in the city of in the eastern Deir Ezzor province. A photograph posted by the Observatory, purportedly of the man, showed him apparently crucified, with his head at his feet. A sign attached to his torso said his death had been order by “Amir Al- Mu’mineen” (the Commander of the Faithful), a traditional alternative moniker for “caliph,” and which ISIS now uses to refer to its leader Baghdadi.