ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – While millions of Kurds around the world take to the streets on a daily basis in support of their compatriots in Rojava (northeast Syria), some have decided to take a step further: picking up arms and breaking borders to answer the call for “resistance” against the Islamist-led Syrian Arab Army’s military campaign in the area.

What started as a military campaign to drive out Kurdish-led forces from the Kurdish-majority quarters of Aleppo in early January, has now turned into what Rojava authorities have described as an “existential” war, with Syrian state forces rapidly approaching the Kurdish territories and declaring their intent to seize the areas and force the Kurdish institutions and security units into state apparatus by any means necessary.

While the Rojava authorities have repeatedly announced their willingness to integrate into a democratic and decentralized model, Damascus’ decision to abandon the negotiation table has left the Kurds with no choice but to gear up for military confrontation, calling on men and women from across the Greater Kurdistan to join the resistance.

Last week, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) called on “all our youth, our young women and men of Rojava, Bakur [Turkey’s southeast Kurdish region], Bashur [the Kurdistan Region of Iraq], and Rojhelat [Iran’s western Kurdish region] of Kurdistan, as well as those in Europe, to unite, break the borders of the occupiers, and join the resistance.”

Thousands have already heeded the call, joining the forces in Rojava to combat what they believe to be a war against all Kurds.

Helo Garmiany, organizer of Bashur (Kurdistan Region) Kurds for Rojava, told The New Region that so far “more than 2,000 individuals have gone from Bashur to Rojava, mostly from Sulaimani and Ranya. There are also individuals from Kalar and Kirkuk, but in fewer numbers.”

“Five to seven buses cross daily,” Garmiany added, noting that they have not faced the Damascus-linked factions in their journey.

Yousif, a 21-year-old from Sulaimani, is one of the young men that has already arrived in Rojava. He told The New Region that he believes mobilization is a national responsibility.

“All Kurds must make the decision to arm themselves and go, to save our brothers and sisters there (in Rojava),” said Yousif.

“We will either win or die.”

“It is not okay for us to sit at home scrolling through the phone while they’re fighting, all Kurds must rise and arm themselves… we will not let the enemy conquer our lands,” he added.

The young man from Sulaimani said they were welcomed with open arms upon arriving in Rojava.

“People are so happy to see us, they bring us things, they give us good food, they provide us with places to stay, whatever we ask of them, they give us.”

Aryan from Ranya is another young man who has joined the Rojava resistance, telling The New Region: “conscientiously and ideologically, I couldn’t not go.”

Gmo Muhamad, a journalist and lawyer, who went to Rojava for nearly a week recounted his experience. He said watching the human rights violations committed against Kurds in Rojava is what prompted him to head there.

In Qamishli, he noted, the residents are defending the neighborhoods by themselves and guarding their areas, while chanting slogans to raise morale.

“Kurds from Bashur heading there is very helpful. I asked the individuals leading the campaigns that even if for one hour, go to Rojava, just to raise their morale, they have been through a lot,” Muhamad told The New Region.

He recalled a moment when he was trying to film a female fighter who appeared startled and asked who he was.

“I asked her for permission and she got angry and asked who I was. I said I’m from Bashur. She immediately embraced me and got choked up and said ‘if you were not from Bashur, I wouldn’t have allowed you to film. Bashur has always had our back. Tell everyone else to come to Rojava. This is your land. Protect it.’”

The Syrian army’s attacks have continued despite several ceasefires reached through international mediators. The clashes have resulted in the death of thousands on both sides and numerous human rights violations committed against the Kurdish-led forces and Kurdish civilians.

Videos circulating online purport to show Damascus-linked fighters beheading, assaulting, and torturing SDF prisoners and civilians, including women, raising fears that the Kurdish population in Kobane, currently besieged by the government, could face a similar fate.

On Saturday, the Syrian defense ministry announced a 15-day extension to its ceasefire with the SDF.

The initial ceasefire aimed to halt hostilities between the two sides for four days, during which both parties were supposed to hash out the details of an agreement regarding the military and civilian integration of Hasakah into the Syrian state institutions.

Talks failed to bear fruit however, as a suffocating siege by the Syrian government's forces around the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane continues, with at least five children dying from the severe cold and lack of medicine, according to the Kurdish Red Crescent.