The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) issued an urgent statement calling on the international community to not remain silent about developments in North and East Syria.
The statement said: “In the last hours, the forces of the Syrian Transitional Government and allied jihadist militias attacked the Al Shaddadi prison, releasing all ISIS prisoners that had been detained there. The International Coalition has done nothing to protect the prison, leaving the SDF forces alone to prevent the outbreak of thousands of ISIS fighters. SDF forces resisted these attacks, but were attacked from all sides and, in the end, were unable to, alone, prevent the prison from being overtaken. Many SDF fighters were martyred, and dozens have been wounded. Due to the inaction of the International Coalition, thousands of ISIS fighters have now escaped, to continue committing atrocities against peoples of the region.”
Kobane besieged and under significant threat
The statement added: “At the same time, al Sharaa’s Syrian Transitional Government forces—alongside Al-Qaeda, other jihadist militias, and Turkish-backed groups—have launched an assault on Kobane. Kobane, the site of a historic resistance that helped save the world from ISIS’s brutality and mass killings in 2015, is once again under attack by essentially the same forces, now operating under different banners. We call on the international community, movements and democratic people of the world to not stay silent, and to take action in denouncing these genocidal attacks.”