Kurdish Forces Vow to Launch Guerilla Warfare Against Turkish Occupation Forces in Afrin

As the Turkey and its ally Free Syrian Army (FSA) continue their plunder and pillage the occupied city of Afrin, the Kurdish forces have decided to intensify their resistance. The Kurdish forces- People's Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) have said that they are now changed the nature of the resistance to guerrilla warfare, as thousands of civilians are evacuated to safe places from Afrin.

On Sunday, Turkey claimed that the FSA has total control over the city of Afrin, and have pushed backed YPG forces, which Ankara considers to be a "terrorist" offshoot of its own outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey had launched the second wave offensive on January 20 under the code name ‘Operation Olive Branch’. Turkey has deployed its armoured and artillery units, along with the special forces to back the elements from Syrian armed opposition FSA. The FSA aims at overthrowing the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian government has warned that Turkeys operation violates the territorial sovereignty and said that it will retaliate if the ‘Operation Olive Branch’ continues.

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of Afrin Canton held a press conference in Shehba and announced their decision to evacuate civilians from the city to avoid civilian massacres and a big humanitarian disaster.

Officials from the canton administration and spokespersons for YPG/YPJ were present in the press conference where a statement was read out by Executive Council Co-president Osman Şêx İsa.

The 59 day Turkish operation backed by the jihadist group FSA has led to killing of 500 civilians including children, women and elderly, and more than 1030 others got wounded. Also, more than 800 Kurdish fighters were killed in the conflict.

Betrayal by International Community

Despite the invasion threatening to destabilse the regional peace processes, the international community has largely remained silent to the occupation. The United States and other western countries like France and United Kingdom, which are party to Syrian conflict, have already betrayed the Kurdish forces by refusing to stop invasion by their NATO ally.

Ankara launched its operation in January after US forces in Syria said that they are going to raise a 30,000 strong border force mostly made of Kurdish militias. As the Turkey launched its offensive, US forces in Syria strategically withdrew to safer places leaving their Kurdish comrades behind. In a clear case of double-cross, the US forces used Kurds in the name ‘anti-IS’ battle while pushing forward its imperialist plot of ‘regime change’ in Syria.

Islamic State re-emergence

According to reports, the Turkish operation in Afrin has led to re-emergence of IS gangs in Mosul and Kirkuk as Kurdish forces are diverted from the anti-Islamic State (IS) battles. The Kurdish forces formed a major part of anti IS Syrian Democratic Force (SDF). The SDF had earlier successfully eradicated Islamic State militants from Mosul and Raqqa in last year, but both the cities were razed to ground due to indiscriminate US led bombing. By December 2017, the Russian and Syrian forces had put the final nail in the IS’s coffin.

KDP’s former Kirkuk Provinces and Sub-districts Police Chief Serhad Kadir spoke about the recent emergence of ISIS in the region and said: “ISIS activity has increased in Daquq’s Reshade sub-district and the Zerge village. ISIS members stay in sleeper cells during the day, and at night they mingle with the local population.”

Loot and Pillage by Turkish backed FSA

Meanwhile, a resident of Afrin told AFP earlier in the day that he had seen the pro-Ankara fighters breaking into shops to loot what was inside while others stole cars that had been parked on the streets. Some fighters also set fire to shops that sold alcoholic beverages.

The invasion forces also destroyed the statue of Kurdish hero Kawa, a symbol of resistance against oppressors.

Both FSA and Turkish forces were accused of engaging in war crimes and deliberately executing captured YPG/ YPJ soldiers and Kurdish civilians. On January 30th, Kurdish Red Crescent said that Turkish offensive killed 65 civilians and injured 163.