In the second half of 2012, most of the region was captured from the Syrian government by opposition groups, including the People's Protection Units (YPG) and its ally the Kurdish Front.[16] In January 2014 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who had been infiltrating the region over the course of the previous year,[17] launched a massive assault, and eventually captured almost the entire region, including Manbij, Jarabulus and Al-Bab, up to Dabiq.