Leader Barzani commemorates Kobani victory over ISIS
Shafaq News– Erbil
Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani marked on Monday the 11th anniversary of Kobani’s liberation from ISIS, praising the role of Peshmerga forces and the Global Coalition that supported the operation.
In a post on X, Barzani paid tribute to all the fighters who defended the city, preventing its complete fall to ISIS, describing their efforts as “a great victory in the history of the Kurdish people,” and a broader win for humanity against terrorism.
لە یازدەهەمین ساڵیادی تێكشكاندنی تیرۆریستان لە كۆبانێدا، سڵاو بۆ شەڕڤان و پێشمەرگە قارەمانەكان دەنێرین كە بە پشتیوانیی هاوپەیمانان لە بەرگرییەكی قارەمانانەدا ڕێگەیان نەدا كۆبانێ بكەوێتە دەست تیرۆریستانی داعش و سەركەوتنێكی گەورەیان لە مێژووی گەلی كورد تۆمار كرد. ئەو سەركەوتنە…
— Masoud Barzani (@masoud_barzani) January 26, 2026
Syria’s Kobani celebrates its liberation on January 26, 2015, following months of intense fighting that broke the ISIS siege of the city.
Earlier today, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) characterized the battle for Kobani as a defining moment in the fight against terrorism, noting that ISIS’s defeat extended beyond military gains to dismantling the group’s ideological and moral foundations.
The remarks come amid renewed clashes in the city between Syrian government factions and the SDF, despite a 15-day extension of a recently signed ceasefire that halted the fighting which erupted earlier this month in Syria’s Aleppo and later spread to Raqqa, Deir Ez-Zor, and Hasakah. Both the Syrian government and the SDF exchanged blame over the ceasefire violations, with the SDF warning that renewed attempts to undermine security in northeastern Syria risk reviving extremist groups and strip Kobani’s victory of its symbolic significance.
Read more: Syria’s calm: An end to threat or a start of a complex security phase for Iraq?
