INSIDE KOBANI: KURDISH WOMEN ON THE FRONTLINE
KOBANI,
Syria (AP) -- On the front lines of the battle for Kobani, Kurdish female
fighters have been playing a major role in helping defend the Syrian town from
an onslaught by the Islamic State extremist group.
She is part of a team holding an eastern front-line position
that comes under regular attack from the extremist fighters, who have been
trying to seize the town since mid-September.
The Islamic State group has declared a self-styled caliphate in
areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, governing it according to its
violent interpretation of Shariah law. The Kurdish men and women fighting in
Kobani are determined not to lose the town to the extremists.
An exclusive report shot by videojournalist Jake Simkin inside
Kobani late last month offered a rare, in-depth glimpse of the destruction that
more than two months of fighting has inflicted on the Kurdish town in northern
Syria by the Turkish border.
It also illustrated what life is like for fighters like Pervin,
who says she doesn't really have dreams beyond the present.
"We must save our love for Apo, and Kurdistan and our
martyrs," she said, referring to Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan,
whose group has been fighting Turkey for Kurdish autonomy.
Nearby, one of Pervin's comrades saw something moving amid the
destroyed remains of central Kobani and opened fire.
Pervin left home and took up arms two years ago as the
overstretched forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad withdrew from Kurdish
areas in northern Syria. She joined the Syrian Kurdish women's self-defense
force, known by its Kurdish acronym YPJ. The female YPJ fighters are now
integrated with the men's units, the YPG.
"I didn't really have any other ambitions. I just wanted to
live a free life, as a woman, (to) be able to see our reality, and have our
rights and just live," she said.
Aided by a small Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga force and Syrian
rebels, they have been stubbornly defending the town since mid-September and
have been aided by over 280 airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.
"We won't allow the terrorist groups in until the last drop
of our blood," Pervin said.
After half a year serving away from her hometown, she returned
with Kurdish forces two months ago to Kobani.
Most fighting happens at night. The fighters can only sleep
during the day, with a rotating two-hour sentry watch.
Three weeks ago, Pervin bumped into her father on a street
corner.
She was surprised to see him holding a gun. She didn't know that
he too had decided to fight. Her mother is a refugee in Turkey, her only
brother studying in Algeria.
"Honestly when I heard my father is fighting on the western
front with the YPG I was so proud of him, and it made me want to fight
more," she said.
Her father, Farouk Kobani, joined the town's defenders in
mid-September, when IS launched their attack. He was delighted to see his
daughter that day three weeks ago, after months without news.
Last week, Simkin traveled with Pervin to the western front, to
see her father once again.
She says he is now her comrade first - but she hugs him like a
father anyway.
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