YPJ commander Çiçek Xemgin said ISIS had attacked Til Temir and Serêkaniyê in order to distract attention from its defeats in Kobanê, Til Hemis and Til Berak, but that this would not prevent the obliteration of the organisation.
Serêkanîyê YPJ commander Çiçek Xemgin said ISIS had attacked Til Temir and Serêkaniyê (Ras ‘al Ayn) in order to distract attention from its defeats in Kobanê, Til Hemis and Til Berak, but that this would not prevent the obliteration of the organisation.
Xemgin said the Turkish state was still actively supporting the ISIS gangs, adding that they had footage of gunfire from Turkish military posts and positions and of wounded gang members being carried in Turkish military vehicles and taking refuge in Turkish military posts.
'Our comrades were hit by snipers on the Turkish border’
YPJ commander Xemgin said that the gangs had brought in reinforcements from Aleppo and other places after being defeated in Til Hemis and Til Berak, and attacked Til Temir and Serêkaniyê. She said: "They launched attacks with bomb-laden vehicles. We halted the vehicle and killed those inside it. Some of our comrades were hit by snipers embedded amongst Turkish troops. We hit back and killed some of the gang members on the border. Others escaped and took shelter in the Turkish military post. We attempted to take the hill where the gang members were at night, but we were fired on from the Turkish side. They obviously have night sights and thermal equipment. This confirms that the Turkish state is a party to this war.”
‘We will be able to deal with the gangs’
Xemgin recalled that they had thrown ISIS out of Serêkaniyê. Once before with limited resources, adding that now the YPG had grown and was capable of dealing with the threat posed by the gangs. She said that despite the support given by the Turkish state they were determined to cleanse the area of the gangs. She denied they had suffered heavy losses, saying: “In these battles we have lost between 15 and 20 fighters. We cannot give an exact figure as some are missing."
'The end of ISIS is near’
Çiçek Xemgin said that the gangs had suffered heavy blows in Kobanê, Til Hemis and Til Berak, adding that they had carried out attacks with the aid of Turkey in order to demonstrate they still existed. She said: “Even if the whole world supported them, not just Turkey, they have to be eradicated, because everywhere they go they attack all that is human. They have a culture of pillage and booty. This is unacceptable. A lot of our fighters here are Arabs, some of them have fallen in the struggle against the gangs.”
