The Kurdish National Congress (KNK) issued a new statement about the situation in Kobanê. The statement confirmed that “water and electricity have been cut off in Kobanê. Internet access was also severed shortly after this information was last shared. Local sources report that extremist forces are closing in on the city center, in what appears to be a targeted campaign of retaliation against a city that achieved a historic victory over ISIS in 2014.”
The statement added: “With essential services deliberately shut down, a humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding. Civilians, among them children and the elderly, are trapped in darkness, deprived of basic needs. Water, food, and fuel are running out. The four-day ceasefire declared by the al Sharaa’s Transitional Government is not holding, and the city is facing renewed attacks. Meanwhile, Turkish military deployments are amassing at the Turkish border with tanks, soldiers, and heavy weaponry.”
The statement continued: “The sense of vengeance directed at Kobanê is unmistakable. The forces encircling the city seek to erase both the symbolic and strategic significance of the Kurdish-led defeat of global terrorism. For Kurds, and for the world, Kobanê is a symbol of hope and resistance. By cutting off life-sustaining infrastructure, the forces of the Syrian Transitional Government, acting in coordination with Turkey and backed by jihadist militias, are weaponising basic human needs against a population that once stood on the world’s front line of defence.”