ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led Rojava (northeast Syria) administration on Sunday said the transfer of Islamic State (ISIS) prisoners to Iraq being the reason for the ceasefire’s extension shows that there is still a threat of further attacks by Damascus, calling on people to remain alert and strengthen security measures.

The Syrian defense ministry on Saturday announced a 15-day extension to its ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The ministry said the extension is to allow for the transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, per the US Central Command (CENTCOM) initiative.

Rojava’s Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) said the transfers being the declared pretext for the extension “clearly confirm that the military option and the launching of further attacks on our regions remain on the table, and that the threat is still present.”

CENTCOM on Wednesday announced that it is in coordination with Baghdad to transfer some 7,000 ISIS prisoners to secure areas in Iraq, amid the instability in Syria.

A significant number of ISIS militants are believed to have fled from the prisons previously held by the SDF after the Kurdish-led forces left the facilities amid continued shelling by the Islamist-led Syrian army.

“We also address our call to our people in Kurdistan and in the diaspora to continue their demonstrations and protests, as the city of Kobane remains under siege, and our people continue their resistance in the face of a war of extermination being waged against them,” DAANES said.

“We reaffirm to our people and to the international community that we are open to dialogue and peace,” the administration added.

The Syrian government has imposed a suffocating siege on Kobane for nearly a week, blocking roads leading to the Kurdish city, slashing electricity, and curbing access to basic services for its some 150,000 population.

At least five children have lost their lives due to extreme cold and shortage in medical supplies, according to the Kurdish Red Crescent in Rojava.

Kobane’s isolation comes amid wider instability in Rojava, as Damascus-affiliated forces have launched a brutal offensive against Kurdish-held areas in a bid to secure interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s vision of a united, centralized Syria, despite the country’s marginalized minorities repeatedly calling for federalism.