2015 invasion of Syria and Iraq

The 2015 invasion of Syria and Iraq was the invasion of Syria and Northern Iraq by coalition forces as part of the War in Mesopotamia. It ended in a victory for coalition forces and the overthrow of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

War against ISIS
US-led coalition forces began direct military action against the Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) beginning in August 2014. Strikes against the group in Syria began in September. As airstrikes seemed to have little effect on ISIS's advances, many US government officials soon realized that the war against ISIS could not be won just in the air.

Turkish no-fly zone
In November 2014, Turkey began enforcing a no-fly zone over Northern Syria without the permission of the Syrian government. Top Syrian officials called the no-fly zone an attack on Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Syrian air defense systems attempted to force Turkish aircraft out of Northern Syria and 3 aircraft were shot down. As a result of this, coalition forces began airstrikes against the Syrian government and relations between coalition forces and the Iraqi government deteriorated as Iraq began backing the Assad government. By December, Western leaders were calling for all out regime change in Syria and it became evident that ground forces would be needed.

Initial invasion
US president Barrack Obama finally approved the deployment of up to 12,000 US ground combat troops to Northern Iraq and Northern Syria on 21 February 2015.