Stories of Resistance of Age-7

The resistance of Kevirî Kir hill disabled the Turkish occupation who resorted to use prohibited weapons against it

TOLIN HASSEN-GHANDI ALO/AFRIN

Since January 20, 2018, Afrin canton has been witnessing a great resistance called the Resistance of the Age, and every part of the land of Afrin; its hills, mountains, valleys and plains witnessed the heroic resistances of the fighters of the People's and Women's Protection Units (YPG and YPJ) confronting the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries.

Among the stories of resistance witnessed in the geography of Afrin was the resistance of Kevirî Kir hill of Rajo area which puzzled the occupation and mercenaries about how to occupy it and the fighters inflicted them heavy losses. The story of the resistance of that hill was narrated by the fighter in YPG Miraz Afrin who participated in that resistance and lived 3 continuous days on that hill, resisting with his comrades the attacks of the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries, describing that resistance the turning point in his life.

In the resistance of Kevirî Kir hill, fighters continue to fight despite the injury

Miraz says that before the Turkish aggression on Afrin, he was still in the training course in Afrin, and on January 23, three days after the start of the Turkish aggression on Afrin canton, he was sent to Kevirî Kir hill with 5 of his comrades, and then the occupation army and its mercenaries bombed the hill and its surroundings with shells and missiles in addition to launching raids by the warplanes on the hill.

He continued, "As soon as we arrived at Rajo, the command informed us to go to Kevirî Kir hill, take our places there and take our measures to avoid the bombing of the warplanes, and we immediately headed towards the hill, took the points and fortified our positions as much as possible while the shells were targeting the hill from time to time and falling on its hill outskirts and some of them on the top, but we were protecting ourselves in the trenches. On the second and third day of our presence on the hill, the shelling intensified and we noticed intensive movements of the occupation army and the mercenaries along the border. We realized that they were preparing to launch attacks. Therefore, we took our preparations for the confrontation. On the fourth morning at 06:00 am, they began to launch an attack on the area and targeted the hill in particular. The number of the attackers on the hill was about 35 of the occupation army and the mercenaries supported by artillery and tanks. We took our positions in different parts of the hill to face the attack.

They moved towards the hill in groups and hid among the trees and rocks surrounding the hill, but we were aware of them and monitored their movements from all sides, and when they approached the vicinity of the hill, we began to confront and we opened fire on them by our machine guns. Clashes erupted between us and them. They could no longer move as we were targeting everyone who would move. And the large number of the forest trees planted on the hill helped us to move from one point to another, disclose the attacking mercenaries’ positions and target them and the mercenaries were no longer able to advance or retreat because they fell within our targets and we were able to monitor any movement of them and target them. The clashes continued for more than an hour during which the warplanes bombed the hill with several raids, but no one was hurt. We continued to repel the attack and we killed a lot of the attackers.”

Miraz added, "While I was shooting from behind a tree at the mercenaries hiding behind a rock, I felt as if someone had burned my right hand with a cigarette. I tried to press the trigger of my weapon, but my finger did not respond. I felt that I could no longer control my hand. I sat behind the tree and examined my hand and I saw that I was shot with two bullets in my arm.

My comrade Tofan noticed that I got injured and he hurried toward me and asked me to get up and step back to heal my wound. He helped me. I got back a little, sat behind a rock and asked Tofan to come back to support our comrades and I would heal my wound myself. I pulled a piece of cloth out of my pocket and tied my wound to stop the bleeding, and I felt that as time went on, the pain in my arms increased, and I intensified the cloth to ease the pain.

I looked from behind the rock at my comrades. I saw them continuing to fight with all force and the fighter Tofan was asking another fighter whose name was Jekdar to cover the point where I was. I could not bear to see my comrades facing that fierce attack alone. I carried my weapon with my left hand and went back to the front points. My comrades tried to protect me. I tried to go to the back villages to receive the medical treatment at our medical points, but I did not move and decided to continue fighting with one hand. It was still enough to click on the trigger and ease pressure from one of the points on my comrades.

I then realized that I was not the only wounded who was still fighting because all of our points were shooting. I felt excited and felt like an additional force. I forgot my tears and I continued to fight with high spirits. Whenever time passed, we felt that the bullets were slowly falling from the enemy's side. The firing suddenly stopped and we could hear only the sounds of some shells landing on the vicinity of the hill. Our comrades said that they saw several bodies of the mercenaries among the rocks and trees and there was not any movement. At that time, our ammunition was almost finished and only several rifles of light weapons and some grenades were left.

After a quiet calm on the hill, seven fighters reached us to support us. They asked the comrade Tofan to send the wounded to the back villages and they would take our place on the hill. Therefore, I went with the rest of the wounded companions accompanied by other two fighters towards the rear points. After about 20 minutes, at the edge of the hill, we got the nearest point to our comrades and they gave us the first aids and then they sent us to Avrin Hospital for receiving the medical treatment.”

6 fighters killed 35 Turkish soldiers and mercenaries

The fighter Miraz added, "After we arrived at Afrin Hospital and received treatment, we heard news via television and the Internet, we were surprised that the Turkish occupation itself had announced that 35 soldiers of the occupation army and its mercenaries were killed at Kevirî Kir hill. Then, we learned that we had eliminated all the attackers so their attacks stopped. Suddenly, the Turkish media claimed that they killed hundreds of fighters of the People and Women Protection Units on the hill although we were only six fighters on the hill and no one was martyred at that time.

After they failed to occupy the hill, they bombarded it with napalm and then airborne

The fighter Miraz added, "After we got injured, our comrades remained to resist and did not allow the occupation army and its mercenaries to advance towards the hill although the Turkish occupation army used all kinds of heavy weapons and warplanes and were inflicted with a lot of losses in number and arms. After their failure to occupy the hill, the Turkish occupation army bombed the hill with Napalms that are banned internationally, and which ignited fires on the hill and its surroundings and that resulted in the injury of a number of our comrades and the martyrdom of others. The occupation army and its mercenaries could not occupy the hill, but they resorted to the implementation of an aerial landing on the hill.

Miraz concluded the speech, “This resistance was a turning point in my life which taught me that the willpower and the adherence to the right and the ground give us a double force to confront the aggressors no matter how their weapons are sophisticated and their numbers are large. I am certain that with the spirit of sacrifice and redemption that our fighters and people in Afrin have, Afrin will triumph. We pledge ourselves and all our martyrs to continue the resistance in its second stage, and we will not calm down until we free every tree and every stone in Afrin."

A.H

ANHA