ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday called on Kurds across Greater Kurdistan to heed northeast Syria’s (Rojava) call to “unite, break the borders of the occupiers, and join the resistance,” amid brutal attacks by the Syrian Arab Army in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement. 

“We call on all our youth, our young women and men of Rojava, Bakur [Turkey], Basur [Iraq], and Rojhelat [Iran] of Kurdistan, as well as those in Europe, to unite, break the borders of the occupiers, and join the resistance,” the SDF said in a statement.

The call comes amid intense attacks by the Syrian Arab Army and Damascus-linked factions, in a blatant violation of a ceasefire deal signed on Sunday between Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi. 

The government-linked factions launched a wide-scale offensive weeks prior, overtaking large portions of SDF-held territory and committing grave human rights violations. 

The call echoes the battle against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Kobane in 2014, where the Peshmerga forces from the Kurdistan Region and Kurds from southeastern Turkey crossed the border and joined the Kurdish-led forces in Rojava.

“Today, with the same will, we declare that we will turn our cities from Derik to Hasaka and Kobane into a graveyard for the new owners of ISIS mentality, who are being led by the Turkish state,” the statement added.

SDF head of media Farhad Shami said on X, “Anything for our nation, either a life with dignity or a martyrdom with honor.”

The ongoing clashes resulted in the breaching of several detention facilities in northern Syria housing veteran ISIS fighters, with a large number of detainees reported to have been released. Both sides have accused the other of the security breaches.

The SDF has for years been in charge of many camps and prisons holding ISIS affiliates and family members in Rojava, after the Kurdish-led and US-backed force fought the lion’s share of the battle and territorially defeated ISIS in Syria in 2019.

The Kurdish-led Rojava administration has repeatedly warned of “real danger” with the factions, harboring an extremist Islamist ideology, attacking the Kurdish-led forces and taking over the prisons. The SDF has also released footage purporting to show the factions releasing ISIS detainees.