Over the course of Syria’s civil war, Kurdish fighters have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the US to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous region in the country’s oil-rich east. Over the course of Syria’s civil war, Kurdish fighters have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the US to rout the Islamic State group and carved out a largely autonomous region in the country’s oil-rich east.