💬 Evaluation:

We are very much on edge, not able to take a step back to evaluate all things that are happening. Still, we want to share some lines with you.

We won't extend now on what happened the last week, but we will briefly look at the current situation. We are now presented with a 15 days extension of the ongoing ceasefire, allegedly to ensure safe transport of the ISIS fighters to secure prisons in Iraq. Authorities of the DAANES have been demanding solutions for those prisoners for almost a decade, and now that US saw how those prisons will end up in hands of the STG, they rushed to evacuate the prisoners to Iraq. US even made statements blaming the SDF of being unreliable, acusing them of abondoning the prison security in al-Hol when STG forces were already assaulting the ISIS prison of Raqqa. Hipocrisy is a word that is too small for what US is doing. But let's not get lost on that and see what's on the ground.

Kobane is now under a brutal siege, with an extreme cold winter that brought snow all over Rojava. Several kids died from cold, since there is no electricity and no gasoline to ignite the stoves. Many people of the surrounding villages are escaping the artillery fire and assaults of STG forces, looking for shelter in the city of Kobane. Many refugees are sleeping in schools and improvised shelters, at temperatures below 0. The extension of the ceasefire may seem like good news, but people of Kobane are in dire need of humanitarian corridors where suplies can enter.

Unfortunately, STG forces and Turkey will probably use this siege to open corridors, not to bring supplies, but to evacuate civilians out of Kobane. That would make it easier for military forces to attack and asediate the city. Kobane is the symbol of resistance, the breaking point where the victory against ISIS started. They are eager to erase it, as a way to break the will of the revolution. We will closely following the situation there.

In the Cizire canton, major tensions are on the military build-up around Hasakah. So far, STG took over most Arab-majority areas, while DAANES are still in the main Kurdish populated places. Hasakah is the province's capital, and in many ways has been functioning as an administrative center for the region. Situated on the outskirts of the Kurdish majority areas, with also a big Arab population, this city is becoming the critical point of the ceasefire negotiations. STG forces are trying to cut the road between Hasakah and Qamishlo, controlling supply routes, but also cutting off the way for possible reinforcements.

Things don't look good, but the spirit of resistance is high. How the next 15 days of ceasefire will develop will determine the future of NES. It can move towards negotiated integration or to total war, and we need to be ready for both.

Revolutionary greetings! 🖤