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The People's Protection Units (Kurdish: ;یەکینەکانی پاراستنی گەل ;Yekîneyên Parastina Gel‎ pronounced [jɛkiːnɛjeːn pɑːɾɑːstɯnɑː ɡɛl], Arabic: وحدات حماية الشعب‎, Classical Syriac: ܚܕܝ̈ܘܬܐ ܕܣܘܬܪܐ ܕܥܡܐ‎, translit. Ḥdoywotho d'Sutoro d'Amo; YPG) is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria's Syrian Democratic Forces. The YPG is mostly ethnically Kurdish, but it also includes Arabs, foreign volunteers, and is closely allied to the Syriac Military Council, a militia of Assyrians. The YPG was formed in 2004 as the armed wing of the Kurdish leftist Democratic Union Party. It expanded rapidly in the Syrian Civil War and came to predominate over other armed Kurdish groups. A sister group, the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), fights alongside them. In early 2015, the group won a major victory over the Islamic State at the Siege of Kobanî, where the YPG began to receive air and ground support from the United States and other coalition nations. Since then, the YPG primarily fought against ISIL, as well as on occasion fighting other Syrian rebel groups. In late 2015, the YPG founded the Syrian Democratic Forces upon the US's urging, as an umbrella group to better incorporate Arabs and minorities into the war effort. The SDF's Raqqa campaign was launched in late 2016 to capture the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital. Several western sources have claimed that YPG is the "most effective" force in fighting ISIL in Syria. A light infantry force, the YPG has limited military equipment and few armoured vehicles. YPG was criticized by Turkey for its alleged continuous support for the PKK, especially since the new rebellion in southern Turkey began. Turkey considers YPG a terrorist organization, and launched a military operation against them in January 2018.