Tens of thousands of people in Kobanê paid their last respects to twelve fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who died in Hesekê. Shops in the city remained closed today, and people from all over the Euphrates region flocked to the Şehid Dîcle Cemetery south of Kobanê.

 

At the farewell ceremony at the cemetery, Ferhan Kobanê gave a speech on behalf of the cantonal council in which he addressed the background of the attempted storming of Sinaa prison by ISIS in Hesekê on 20 January. He stated that the attack had been planned in the long term with the aim of once again proclaiming a caliphate and placing the region under the control of the Turkish state. This was prevented by the sacrifice of the martyrs and the joint effort of the peoples of northern and eastern Syria, the deputy council president said and added: "And so, on the anniversary of the liberation of Kobanê, another victory over ISIS could be declared."

 

Mehmûd Kobanê, co-chair of the Kobanê Military Council, paid tribute to the selfless struggle of the martyrs in a speech and said: "They sacrificed their lives for the peace and stability of the region and the brotherhood of the peoples.

 

Afterwards, the certificates of the martyrs were read out and handed over to the families. The martyrs were Mahir Mihemed Bozan, Nîhad Şêx Mûsa, Dara Mihemed Mihemed, Mehmûd Henkî, Îsmaîl Mihemed Elî, Bozan Mislim Xelîl, Mihemed Esmet Walî, Hisên Elî Îsmaîl, Feysel Sedûn, Heysem Nebo Mihemed, Mehmûd Mezî and Hisên Kino.

 

In the course of the ISIS attack on the Sina prison in Hesekê, 121 people were martyred, according to the SDF. Inside the detention centre, 77 security forces and workers were brutally killed. In the seven days of fighting outside the prison, 40 fighters and four civilians lost their lives.