Stories of Resistance of Age-8

Several fighters ambushed hundreds of mercenaries, rescued a fighter from the siege

GHANDI ALO-TOLIN HASSEN/AFRIN

The Resistance of the Age that took place in Afrin in its first stage witnessed many stories of resistance, redemption and sacrifice by the fighters who were defending the land of olives. It showed the determination of the people and fighters of Afrin to defend their land despite the unequal battle in terms of equipment and number, and it also showed the sacrifice for the sake of the homeland that was an important factor in the fighters’ ability to continue the resistance against the advanced military arsenal of the Turkish occupation army for nearly two months which is still continuing in its second stage until the moment.

The fighter Demhat Zagros in the ranks of YPG tells us one of the stories of the resistance and sacrifice in which he participated and was the eyewitness in the first stage of the Resistance of the Age.

Demhat Zagros notes that he joined the People Protection Units (YPG) last year and was still receiving a military training course when the Turkish aggression began on Afrin in January 20, 2018. He went to the battle trenches and stationed on the front lines of the fronts.

The resistance of Badina town and ambushing the mercenaries

The fighter says that after a period of the Turkish aggression on Afrin, he was sent with a group of fighters to Badina town of Rajo area. At that time, the Turkish army had been occupying Khalil village and al-Ezaa hill which is related to the area. They were shelling Badina with heavy weapons and warplanes every once in a while.

And after several days of continuous shelling, the occupation realized that we will not leave the town easily. It began preparing for launching ground attacks on our sites under the cover of the warplanes and reconnaissance planes and with the support of the artillery and tanks shelling. The Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries moved from the village of Khalil toward Badina while we were watching their movements and the sides from where they used to launch attacks.

They were attacking with large numbers of mercenaries and the Turkish occupation army was behind them to prevent the mercenaries from escaping.

Due to our very small number in front of the enemy's numbers who were attacking us, we decided to take a new plan in the confrontation, namely to carry out special operations, ambush the mercenaries and deal them blows sporadically because we could not confront with normal war. Therefore, we deployed on the outskirts of the town and in the strategic points inside it, and we decided to not launch any bullet towards the enemies until they enter the outskirts of the town so that we could ambush the largest number of them.

We kept silent and we were monitoring until the mercenaries and the occupation army came close to the town where the bombing was going on amid the hovering of the warplanes and the reconnaissance planes over it. The enemy wanted us to move or start responding to them to be able to reveal our positions and target us, but we kept our positions immobile and we did not shoot any bullets. We were waiting for the commander of the group to give us the signal to start the confrontation. We waited until the mercenaries started to move more freely, thinking that we had fled the town before their arrival. After the enemy passed several houses and their gangs have been in front of our targets, the commander of our group shot the first bullet at the mercenaries so we opened our machine guns towards the mercenaries who were very close to us and the sounds of bullets that merged with the screams of the mercenaries who got wounded raised.

A state of fear and chaos spread among the mercenaries, and they have been no longer aware from where the bullets were coming. They run right and left shooting bullets indiscriminately until they shot each other for being too afraid. After less than an hour of fighting, the rest of the mercenaries retreated, leaving behind dozens of bodies and wounded. After their withdrawal, the air force returned to bombard the town again, and we quickly changed our locations. We took safer places. The shelling of the town lasted for several hours destroying many houses. Moreover, some of our comrades were slightly wounded.

Demhat added, “After the brutal bombardment that targeted the town, the occupation army and its mercenaries returned to launch a new attack so we quickly took our positions to confront. We followed the previous plan and did not initiate to shoot bullets at the mercenaries until they entered the town again, but this time they tried to provoke us to respond to them using verbal abuses so that they would be able to reveal our points, but we did not move behind their dirty methods and we let them to move forward again. Then, we besieged them from three sides clashed with them and dealt them painful blows again. After the first group received strikes and killed, the second gang of the mercenaries entered the town and strong clashes broke out between us and them.

Save a fighter from the siege

Demhat continued, "After several hours of strong clashes, the mercenaries tried to turn around us and they entered the town from the side of the cemetery which is located on the south-eastern part of the village, and here, the clashes intensified. After heroic resistance, killing dozens of mercenaries and wounding others, 2 of our comrades joined to the rank of martyrdom. Their martyrdom had a great impact on us, but increased our determination to take revenge and inflict the greatest losses to the mercenaries.

As the clashes continued, the mercenaries were tightening the siege on us. While our comrade Hêvi was confronting the mercenaries inside one of the houses, she was encircled because the door of the house had been in front of the enemy’s fire. She could not leave because the back windows of the house were protected by iron. The mercenaries called upon her and asked her to surrender, claiming that they would not do anything to her, but the fighter was shooting them. I could not bear to see the fighter besieged and I decided to move in an attempt to save her.

I sneaked into the back of the house and I said to her, “Do not go out, I'll save you," I thought carefully how I would save her while time was not helping us.

As I was searching for the exit, I saw a window and told her to get away behind the window and protect herself. I put a grenade in the window and laid down on the ground quickly. The bomb exploded, one side of the window removed and a part of the wall destroyed. I pulled the window and opened a space enough for someone to pass. The fighter went out crawly. Then, we headed towards an olives field on the outskirts of the town and hid among the trees. The rest of our comrades told us that they had left the town and asked us to continue walking and join one of our comrades' points near the town. We walked through the trees. The mercenaries were shooting indiscriminately at the trees, but luckily we were not hurt, and we managed to reach the points of our comrades in the village and in this way, our fighter was rescued.

The resistance of Qasim hill and killing mercenaries were using drugs

After they left Badina town, they were sent with a group of fighters to Qasim village in Rajo district. He said, "After we went to Qasim village in Rajo district, we checked the area and found out the entrances and exits. Then, we took our positions over Qasim hill. We decided to carry out special operations against the mercenaries so at night, I went with one of the fighters to Kura village near Qasim village which was occupied by the occupation army and its mercenaries, and we decided to target one of the mercenaries’ points. We saw 3 mercenaries sitting behind the earthen berm next to one of the houses. They were laughing and not fully conscious. We attacked the point and killed the 3 mercenaries in their place. We saw quantities of narcotic and stimulant pills beside them. We took their weapons and quickly returned to our points.

Demhat added, "In the morning of the second day, the hill was heavily bombed with tanks and artillery and the warplanes began to launch raids on the hill and its surroundings, and they also targeted Qasim village. The bombardment resulted in wounding some of our comrades, and the commander asked us to take them to Qasim village to be transferred to medical points. After the bombing intensified again and the mercenaries began to attack the village and the hill, the commander asked us to withdraw and go to the village because the mercenaries were already besieging the hill from several sides. We said that we would not leave the hill and we would resist until the end.

And in deed, we have repelled the mercenaries’ attacks for two days alone and did not allow them to enter the hill. The commander contacted us again and asked us to withdraw because the mercenaries had begun to tighten the siege. We insisted on the resistance and asked them to support us and we informed them that we had had no food, but because of the intensive flight of reconnaissance planes on the hill targeting every movement, the fighters could not climb the hill and put food for us under a tree down the hill and retreated. By the evening, we came down from the hill to bring the food.

As we reached the place where the food was placed, the reconnaissance planes returned and hovered over the area. We hid under the trees and I asked the fighter Berîvan to stop moving to not be revealed by the planes. A few minutes later, Berîvan said that she would go to bring the food and as she got away from her site for about 30 meters, the drone bombed her and she martyred beside me. It was similar to a nightmare and I got shocked. I stayed there for a while and then contacted with the commander and informed them of what had happened. They asked me to go to Qasim village soon when the reconnaissance planes would be absent.

At that time I heard the voices of the mercenaries on the hill screaming, and I had been in front of their targets. I went to the place where our comrades put food and water, and I took the water and poured it on the ground. I made the mud and covered my body with mud and began to move from tree to tree. I went to the village of Qasim where our comrades were, but when I entered the village, I heard people behind a house talking in Arabic and Turkish. I sat behind a wall and heard them saying that the village looked to be empty of the protection units.

I discovered that they were from the occupation army and its mercenaries. I tried to approach them secretly and found 4 mercenaries, 2 from the occupation army and 2 from the mercenaries. I shoot fire on them and killed them, and then, I communicated with the commander to ask them whether they were in the village or went out. They told me that they were on the edge of the village and I told them what had happened. They asked me to bring their weapons and go toward them.”

The fighter Demhat Zagros concluded saying that he continued to participate in the resistance with the rest of his comrades until the announcement of the end of the first stage of the resistance and the start of the second stage. Then, he joined the second stage which still continues pledging all his fellows martyred to revenge for them and liberate Afrin at any cost.

A.H

ANHA