ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Northeast Syria (Rojava) is facing ongoing attacks by armed factions that are “ideologically and organizationally” linked to the Islamic State (ISIS), the enclave’s Kurdish-led administration warned on Monday, condemning a “horrific massacre” committed against a Kurdish family earlier that day and censuring the international community’s silence regarding repeated violations against civilians in Rojava.
In a statement on its official Facebook page, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) said, “As the liberation anniversary of the city of Kobane from the terrorist ISIS organization approaches… our region today faces extremely dangerous circumstances, as it is subjected to ongoing attacks by factions that include elements and groups linked ideologically and organizationally to ISIS.”
The DAANES added, “These attacks are nothing but an attempt to reproduce terrorism in new forms and to complete what ISIS failed to achieve militarily,” noting that “the resistance of Kobane… was a clear declaration that the will of the people is stronger than terrorism, and that the project of darkness represented by ISIS has no future.”
Kobane holds deep significance for the Kurdish community. In 2014, the city became the epicenter of a brutal ISIS assault, as the group controlled vast swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq. By mid-September, ISIS militants had captured village after village, tightening their grip around Kobane and forcing thousands of civilians to flee to neighboring Turkey.
With support from the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and reinforcements from the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) eventually repelled the militants in January 2015.