In Kobani, northeastern Syria, the memory of the 2014 ISIS siege still lingers more than a decade later. The battle, which turned the small border city into a global symbol of resistance, left deep scars—and a lasting legacy.
On November 1, 2025, the world marks the eleventh World Kobani Day, commemorating what many see as the first major turning point in the war against ISIS in Syria. Hundreds of YPG and YPJ fighters, along with other allied local militias, were killed defending the city, supported by U.S. airstrikes that helped turn the tide against the extremist group.
The fight for Kobani also laid the groundwork for the deep and historic U.S.–SDF partnership. During the siege, the United States supplied weapons and launched airstrikes in support of Kurdish and Arab fighters, who were battling ISIS forces armed with tanks and heavy weapons seized from the Iraqi Army. Washington also facilitated the arrival of Peshmerga reinforcements from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, a move that proved critical in breaking the siege.
That cooperation laid the foundation for a lasting alliance between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the U.S.-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS. Building on the victory in Kobani, the partnership went on to liberate Raqqa, Shaddadi, Manbij, and most of the territory that once formed ISIS’s so-called caliphate by March 2019.
Today, the partnership endures. Despite ISIS’s territorial defeat, its cells remain active across Syria, continuing to target SDF fighters and civilians alike.
Statue in Kobani’s center, commemorating Arin Mirkan, a YPJ commander who gave her life in the Battle of Kobani in 2014.