Kurdish opposition party office attacked in Kobane

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kobane office of the largest Kurdish opposition party in northeast Syria (Rojava) was attacked on Friday by suspected members of a group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The Kurdistan Democratic Party - Syria (PDK-S), the backbone of the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), was holding an event to commemorate the death of legendary Kurdish figure Mullah Mustafa Barzani in its office in Kobane when a group of people attacked. 

A member of the party’s politburo was among several people injured, Sulaiman Oso, an ENKS official told Rudaw English. Much of the equipment in the office was also destroyed.

Oso blamed the Revolutionary Youths group, which is linked to the PKK.

The Revolutionary Youths have been blamed for many similar assaults on ENKS and its members in Rojava in the past. The PDK-S office in Hasaka was attacked in July last year. 

The group has not immediately commented on the incident. 

ENKS has accused local security forces of turning a blind eye to these attacks as no arrests have been made. Oso said on Friday that security forces came to the office only after all the attackers were gone and failed to take any measures against the perpetrators. 

The ENKS and Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD) have been at odds for several years, with the ENKS accusing the PYD of being unwilling to share power and detaining their members. The PYD claims that ENKS, which is a member of the Turkey-backed Syrian opposition coalition, serves Ankara’s agenda.

Despite several meetings between them with American supervision, the dispute has not been resolved.