The General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released a statement marking the first anniversary of the victory against ISIS in North-East Syria.

The statement includes the following;

“On the behalf of the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces, today, we commemorate our most elevated victories which we have achieved on the behalf of all of humanity, in destroying the so-called Islamic State organization ISIS and liberating all the lands of NE Syria from its clutches on March 23, 2019, with the cooperation and support of the Global Coalition that was formed during the historical battle of Kobani, which was the basis of all subsequent victories, starting from Kobani passing through the alleged capital of the caliphate in Raqqa, and culminated in the victory of Al-Baghouz in a battle that lasted 5 years. Our cooperation continues in a new phase to combat ISIS with its security organization and the global danger that it poses is still renewable.

After finishing the military operations against the terrorist organization, we have faced huge files related to ISIS families and prisoners and continued fight against its sleeper cells in the region. We were able to carry out 305 military operations, in which we arrested 376 ISIS terrorists, the most notable of which was the intelligence cooperation that we showed in the operation of killing the head of the terrorist organization, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and other senior military commanders, in addition to other operations that are still ongoing.

We have faced great difficulties in containing ISIS prisoners and their families in light of the weak international and humanitarian cooperation within this framework, so we call on the international community to enhance cooperation and joint work with our forces and the Autonomous Administration and provide the necessary support to secure prison protection and provide humanitarian assistance to the camps, in addition to our endeavor to know the fate of hundreds of our families kidnapped by ISIS terrorists, which is still being investigated.

The hostile military operations carried out by the Turkish army against Tal Abyad (Gire Spi) and Sere Kaniyeh (Ras al-Ain) weakened the focus of our forces, obstructed their progress to eliminate ISIS terrorists, affected the campaign that our forces were leading against the terrorist organization’s strongholds negatively, and changed the balance of power in the region.

Upon the withdrawal of the Global Coalition forces from the western regions and reducing the momentum of joint operations against the terrorist organization in the cities of Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, Tal Abyad, and others, ISIS managed to gain more time to organize new sleeper cells in those areas, while our forces carried out security operations by relying on their own capabilities to maintain security and stability in those areas.

We have been able to document the participation of extremist jihadists of ISIS origin in the operations of occupying Tal Abyad and Sere Kaniyeh, which was yet another threat against the security and stability of our areas. The international community should deal with these realities seriously, and work to secure an appropriate environment for the people of the two cities in order to return to their homes.

Today, after one year of destroying the alleged caliphate, ISIS continues to pose a grave danger to the region, which cannot be tolerated. At the same time, the suspension of the political process and the exclusion of representatives of the region from international talks keeps our region on the verge of the danger of the return of ISIS again – the organization which remains coherent in security and economics, and is known to be able to exploit the stages of chaos and revive within it. Therefore, the launch of the political process in Syria within these circumstances will be the last shot at ISIS and a chance to secure the sustainable stability of the liberated areas. SDF will be a guarantee for a free and pluralistic Syria.

At the same time, we affirm our need for continued local cooperation and security and military coordination between the countries and territories in which the sleeper cells of the terrorist organization are active, and form a threat to their internal security.”