Stories of Resistance of Age -12

Avian and Rukan Botan… Recounts a story of sacrifice in Resistance of the Age 

TOLIN HASSEN –GHANDI ALO AFRIN

During the Resistance of the Age in Afrin, YPG and YPJ showed exceptional resistance,. This resistance was mixed with the spirit of sacrifice, redemption and loyalty to the land, people and martyrs. YPJ played a prominent role in that resistance and inflicted heavy blows on the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries through their steadfastness, Such as Avista, Barin and others, who became symbols of the struggle of free and struggler women. Every village in Afrin witnessed stories of resistance, sacrifice and loyalty, including the story of the fighters Avian Botan and Rukan Botan

The fighters in YPJ's ranks, Avian Botan and Rukan Botan, were two of the many fighters who promised their land and comrades and experienced difficult moments in resistance with each other within the second stage of Resistance of the Age.

Kaverî Ker and Batman resistance

The fighters recount extracts on the resistance of Afrin from Kaverî Ker hill to Batman hill and the villages of Janders district,  the fighter Avian Botan, who recounted what happened while fighting against the occupation army and its mercenaries:

I went to Rajo district within the martyr çekdar and the martyr Barin group on the second day of the Resistance of the Age, and I and my comrade Rukan were among the group led by the commander Selava. He asked our group to head towards Kaverî Ker hills and Batman hill, which were occupied by the mercenaries and the Turkish occupation army. After walking for several hours, we were stationed at points close to the two hills, and we saw the amount of the destruction caused by the brutal bombing of the air force and the Turkish army's artillery. It was a scene hurts the heart, and we deployed in the form of two groups and despite the fatigue that has happened as a result of the long walk, but we were eager to fight and take revenge from the enemy.

And there we decided to carry out special operations against the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries and liberating of the two hills, and we moved with the by night from two axes towards the hill of Kaverî Ker, and this hill rocky nature and covered by forest shrubs, and I moved between rocks and shrubs until we approached the top of the hill, and then I advanced with another fighter to explore and launch the attack on our enemy's first points, and we advanced crawling a few meters from the point of concentration of mercenaries, and my comrade fighter threw a grenade at the point and when it exploded we moved quickly and shot behind the point where three mercenaries were killed, after a short hour of clashes, no one of the mercenaries was on the hill and we combed the until we met with each other. I met with my friend Rukan and I hugged her and we were happy and enthusiasm for the success of the operation and the non-injury or martyrdom of one of our comrades.

Carrying out an operation on Batman hill

Avian added," after we directed a painful blow to the occupation army and mercenaries on Kaverî Ker hill and liberated it, we decided to take another hit on the mercenaries in Batman hill near Kaverî Ker, so that the mercenaries could not assemble their ranks and attack Kaverî Ker again. The commander Selava asked to form a group to carry out the operation and the second group to protect Kaverî Ker hill and to cover the first group of the rear so that the mercenaries would not surround us. My friend Rukan and me asked to be part of the group that would carry out the operation, and we were joined by four YPG fighters,(Shiyar, Kendal, çekdar and Sipan.)

Avian added ,"before we headed to Batman hill, we set out a plan and how to carry out the operation. We decided to enter the hill from 3 axes. Each fighter advanced. On the other hand, after midnight, and by the night, we packed our weapons and equipment and headed towards Batman hill I and my comrade Kendal were advancing by one side. The second one includes Rukan and Shiyar. On the other hand, Comrades çekdar and Sipan were in the middle and were behind us to support us If something unexpected happened, we heard the voices and movements of mercenaries as we move forward with great caution as the mercenaries flee after the blow they received in Kaverî Ker.,

As we passed over the middle of the hill, my comrade focused the BKC behind a rock and headed it at the mercenary points and opened fire towards the mercenaries. Then I went with comrade Kendal to the top of the hill and opened our light machine guns towards the mercenaries and violent clashes broke out between us. As we progressed a little more suddenly, the comrade Kendal fell to the ground and I rushed to him. He said he had been shot in the abdomen, and helped and took his weapon.

We withdrew slowly to the back and the comrades çekdar, Sipan and Comrade Kendal joined us and encouraged him and asked him to be cohesive until they reached the points of our comrades. So we contacted with our comrades Rukan and Shiyar and asked them to withdraw. In the meantime, the bullets were headed towards us and we were withdrawing slowly and cautiously. And the distance  between us and the points of our comrades on the Kaverî Ker hill was very long and the road blocked our speed in addition to the firing of mercenaries randomly at the vicinity of the hill, and an hour after the march we reached Kaverî Ker, and the rest of our comrades rushed to receive us and met around comrade Kendal to reassure him, he realized that he has martyred of his injuries and frequent bleeding that happened with him. There, we renewed the pledge of the martyr to avenge him and step up the resistance.

 Bombarding Keverî Ker

Avian continues recounting ,"after returning from Batman Hill and sending the body of Kendal to Afrin, we went to rest in the tunnels we dug on Kaverî Ker hill, and the rest of our comrades were guarding the hill. In the early hours of the morning we awoke due to the sound of heavy shelling on the hill. We knew that , if the occupation army and mercenaries attack a place they are starting with a bombardment of aviation, artillery and heavy weapons. After the air raids, the occupation army and the mercenaries began shelling Kaverî Ker with artillery from Batman hill.

Avian added, " as Kaverî Ker was close to Batman hill and the shelling was hard on us, the commander Selava always tried to protect us by giving instructions on how to protect ourselves and she was walking on our points despite the danger of shelling to reassure us and raise our morale. After several hours of artillery shelling, the mercenaries launched an attack on Kaverî Ker hill, supported by the helicopters, we were trying to protect ourselves through the trenches and behind the rocks and respond to the attacks, and after the clashes intensified and the enemy attacked in large numbers and from several axes and the proximity of the two sides of the border helps them move more freely because they know that the back front of the front is the border and cannot be attacked from there, so they were directing all their strength towards the hill, yet we responded to those attacks and did not allow them to progress easily and inflicted heavy losses and damaged and destroyed several vehicles for them, amid the intensification of the battle and the fall of missiles on the hill and its surroundings the commander Selava was moving from one point to the other to support the fighters and give them instructions and support, and while moving a shell fell next to her and wounded her,

We did not know then the injury of the commander  and the rest of our comrades did not tell us ,because they knew that we derived from Selava morale and forces, and they had transferred her to the medical points for treatment, and we continued to address the attack for several hours and mercenaries were trying to get around the hill to besiege us, the enemy's inability to progress towards the hill and after a lot of losses the were supported this time by the warplanes that began hovering over us and launching violent raids on the hill and its surroundings, we no longer know how to protect ourselves from the bombing of the flight and to respond to the attack at the same time, and in those raids, some of our comrades were injured, we decided to get out of the hill in a sequential way, a group retreats and a group covers the others. In this way, we managed to reach the points of our comrades in the villages behind Kaverî Ker hill and we helped all the wounded, and there we got the terrible news when we asked about the commander Selava and why they are no longer with us , they told us that she was hit on the hill and transferred to Afrin but she was martyred before reaching the hospital, the news of her death was strong on us.

Its martyrdom was a new motivation for us to continue the resistance with greater insisting and we pledged ourselves to avenge her and defeat the mercenaries and the Turkish occupation army.

Avian and Rukan are moving to Janders

After that, the fighter Rukan Botan told us what happened with them, she said

  After we stayed in Rajo district, the leadership asked our group to rest until they set the point for us. next day, the command asked three fighters from our group to go to Janders to support our comrades there, and I asked the command that I and Avian want to go Janders and  the fighter Serdar also joined us .

Rukan added "When we arrived, they sent us to Tal Hamo village. There were two groups. When we joined them, we became three groups and the fighter Masira, who was the commander of our group, was chosen to lead us, we were next to Ferriya village which was occupied by the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries, so we expected the enemy could launch attacks on us at any moment.

"Rukan continued, "we kept monitoring the movements of the mercenaries in the neighboring village until noon and they did not initiate the attack or the shooting or launching the  shells at us, and then Masira asked us to go to lunch and he would keep the point until our return, as we ate, Masira talked by the wireless device and told us that the mercenaries started to crawl toward the village, we hurried to our points and concentrated on our positions and prepared for the response

Tal Hemo village resistance and martyrdom of some fighters

The occupation army and its mercenaries attacked in large numbers with tanks and armored vehicles, and as they started advancing, they bombarded the village with tanks and artillery, and we responded with medium and light weapons. The enemy was attacking from 3 axes. As they approached the village, we fought mercenary attacks on the outskirts of the village, and there were violent clashes and the sound of bullets and shells deafening the ears from its invasion and strength. We were fighting the mercenaries who were trying to attack from one side of the village and hindering their progress. They used heavy weapons against us intensively. For the clashes, Masira and Serdar returned to our points and asked us to withdraw to the back lines because the mercenaries had turned on the village from one side, so he said we will stay on the back to not be besieged.

We took our positions in the rear lines. The mercenaries advanced in the middle of intense shelling of the village and the reconnaissance plane flew over us. The clashes between us intensified.

We decided to withdraw to safe places because the missiles were falling around us and the reconnaissance aircraft was circling around the village. We were spotted. During the withdraw between the olive trees, I was behind comrade Serdar. He asked me to walk in front of him and asked him to walk on one line together, when I passed him by two trees, I heard a loud sound behind me. I looked back. I saw a burning olive tree and smoke. I did not see comrade Serdar again. I listened to him several times. I heard him saying, "Rukan, I'm fine." But when I did not get the answer the pain felt like a paralyzing thought, and Avian called me and asked me to hold myself and not move from my place so that the plane would not bomb me too, but I was frozen in my place from the shock.

Trying to save some fighters

Rukan added, " when we were separated from the comrades Masira and Delovan who remained in the village, and after the martyrdom  of Serdar, our thinking was confused, we no longer knew what to do. The sound of bullets was still rising from the village. This showed that our comrades were still resisting. Avian and Avaresh went back to the outskirts of the village again. Perhaps we could support the comrades or rid them, and we changed our way back because our place was monitored by the warplane, and we slipped from under the forest trees towards the village. As we approached the village we received another shock new we saw our comrade Bakur on the ground at the side of the village , we did not know if he wounded or martyred, and as we were heading toward him , we saw a group of mercenaries moving among the houses and was very close to Bakur there, our comrade Avaresh said he would go and bring the comrade Bakur and he rushed to him and as he reached him the reconnaissance plane launched a shell on him and he dropped on the ground we realized afterward that they martyred.

The withdrawal and return to bring the bodies of martyrs

Rukan continued," we withdrew so that we could reach the points of our comrades and ask them to support us and we can bring the bodies of the martyrs. After walking between the fields and the valleys, we reached the public road and there we saw a group of our comrades who were moving between the fronts, and we told them what happened , they contacted with the command, the leadership asked that 2 fighters or 3 go to the village to look into the situation and try to support the comrades and bring the bodies of the martyrs if they could.

By the night , 2 fighters asked the command of the group to head to the village one of them was the fighter Zenar and the other was the fighter Amed , the asked us to help them to find the bodies of the martyrs and guide the road and the place of the martyrs , I said that I would go with you , Avian tried to go , but the commander of the group refused that.

We went back by car to the village without lighting the car. After approaching the place where Serdar was martyred, we got out of the car and looked under the trees. Suddenly I saw Serdar's body I froze in my place. All the moments we spent on the fronts were passing through my imagination. I expected the mercenaries took the bodies of the martyrs Avaresh and Bakur with them and when we arrived at the outskirts of the village I saw something black on the ground I told the fighters that the bodies of the martyrs are still there, and the fighters moved towards the place and a few minutes later returned with the bodies of the martyrs, and we transferred the three martyrs to the car and we went back to the leadership.

The two fighters, Avian Botan and Rukan Botan, concluded their story by promising to fulfill their pledge to the martyrs, and to continue the resistance in its second stage until liberating Afrin and avenge the martyrs.

A.H

ANHA