The recent string of victories of the Syrian-Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) against the ISIL-held town ofTal Abyad, on the Syrian-Turkish border, and the seizure of an ISIL military base outside of the so-called Islamic State's declared capital of Raqqa, demonstrate how non-state militias have achieved greater success in this war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant than the conventional militaries of Iraq and Syria.Apparently the YPG's offensives were conductedin tandem with US air strikes, similar to the scenario inTikrit, Iraq, where the US ultimately relented and launched air strikes along with an offensive led by the Iranian-allied Iraqi Shia militias.In both Tikrit and Tal Abyad, it was the combination of US air power and an alliance with local militias that secured victory against well-entrenched ISIL fighters. In both cases, the US had allied with militias, not conventional militaries, that Washington had been wary of supporting.The Syrian YPG is affiliated with the Turkish Workers Party (PKK), which is officially on the US state department'slist of terrorist groups.

Syrian Kurds reclaim Tal Abyad in country's north

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shia militia, is also on thelist, yet it took part in the battle to expel ISIL from Tikrit, bringing the goals of the US and this Shia group together in the birthplace of Saddam Hussein.Identity-based communitiesThe dynamics of these battles have forced Washington into an uneasy, de-facto alliance with militias like the YPG and Kataib Hezbollah.What these fighting forces have in common is that they view ISIL as an existential threat to their communities.ISIL has proved determined to combat the Kurds of YPG, particularly in the past over the town of Kobane, not only for territory, but because the YPG's combination of secular, non-sectarian, ethno-nationalism is anathema to ISIL's transnational Islamist identity. ISIL has proven to target Shia Muslims for the simple reason that it has declared all members of the sect as non-believers.ISIL represents a threat to both of these identity-based communities, and thus the militias of both groups have proven more motivated and tenacious in combating ISIL fighters, making them worthy partners with the US aim of countering ISIL.The YPG victories have severed one of ISIL's primary arteries into Turkey itself, removing one of the links ISIL has utilised to sell black market oil and antiquities, in addition to serving as a conduit for its foreign fighters...

Granted, the YPG's fighting strength has been strengthened with Peshmerga fighters from theIraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party(KDP), and the Shia militias include fighters from the IraqiDawa and Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq,all parties who began a working relationship with the US during their pre-2003 years as part of the Iraqi opposition.However, the amorphous coalition against ISIL has allied the US with Iran as well, and Iranian-supported militias or PKK-affiliated groups, and the past precedents indicate that only when all of these elements cooperate can victories against ISIL result in depriving the group of territory on the ground.Bizarre constellation of forcesFurther victories may result from the deployment of more US Special Forces in the battle, or the much vaunted Iraqi forces retrained by the US at the moment, but as of yet, it is a bizarre constellation of forces that have achieved victory against ISIL, itself another bizarre constellation of purported former Baathists, local Iraqis and Syrian fighters, and foreign fighters, including a contingent of Western converts to Islam.The YPG's success, however, will certainly alarm the Turkish state, concerned about the Kurdish resurgence on its border. The de-facto alliance between the US and YPG has alarmed Turkey and continues to fray US-Turkish relations. As the YPG is affiliated with the PKK, the Turkish security establishment no doubt worries about a resurgent Kurdish entity on its border.Furthermore, a Turkish party, the HPD, which was given theblessing of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalanto represent the aspirations of Turkey's Kurds, fared relatively well in the recent Turkish elections,entering the parliamentand preventing the incumbent AK party from transforming Turkey into a presidential system under Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The combination of both recent events, signalling the empowerment of Turkish and Syrian Kurds, will certainly raise concerns among political elites in Turkey.

YPG fighters gather at the eastern entrance to the town of Tal Abyad [REUTERS]

Furthermore, the YPG victories have severed one of ISIL's primary arteries into Turkey itself, removing one of the links ISIL has utilised to sell black market oil and antiquities, in addition to serving as a conduit for its foreign fighters who come to Raqqa via the area that surrounds Tal Abyad.