Îsmaîl Elî, one of the commanders of the Kobanê Resistance, issued a message via ANF on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of Kobanê’s liberation from ISIS gangs.
Having played an active role in the Kobanê Resistance between 2014 and 2015, Elî took part in many critical liberation campaigns, foremost among them the liberation of Manbij. A father of two martyrs, Elî from Kobanê continued his struggle despite being wounded multiple times during the resistance. Despite his health problems, Elî continues his work within the Kobanê Military Council.
Speaking to ANF from one of the former battlefields, Îsmaîl Elî said: “Today there is an attack against the Kurdish people by Colani. With the support he receives from other states, he is attacking Kurdish areas using every available means. The Kurds he is targeting are a people who in 2014 sacrificed their lives and gave thousands of martyrs to rid the entire world of ISIS terror. Today, we condemn these attacks carried out against the Kurds in front of the eyes of the whole world. We fought here not only for ourselves, but for the whole world. We freed the world from terrorism so that Kurds, Arabs, and all other components could live together in brotherhood.
Today as well, in areas where Arab tribes live, attacks are being carried out against Kurdish areas in the name of al-Jolani, in order to support Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. Those fighting these gangs now are the same ones who previously fought against ISIS. Today, once again, we will fulfill the promise we made to our martyrs. Just as we resisted in Kobanê and broke the gangs’ assault within five months, we will resist again. Even if only one person remains, we will not abandon this region liberated by our martyrs.
As a people, we will stand alongside our YPG-YPJ fighters. The place where I am sitting now was once a battlefield. All forces concentrated their attacks here. We were left with a very small area. All the ISIS gangs were attacking this place. Here were Martyr Gelhat, Sorxwin, Avareş, Destina, and Kendal.
We renew our promise to these martyrs once more: We will resist until our last breath, we will protect the values they created, and we will always keep the flags of victory flying.”