YPG fighter with crutches in the frontlines in Deir ez-Zor
25 years old Ali Serêkaniyê was wounded in the Raqqa operation and is receiving treatment in Qamishlo, but still isn’t abandoning his friends in the Deir ez-Zor front despite his crutches.
25 years old Ali Serêkaniyê was wounded in the Raqqa operation and is receiving treatment in Qamishlo, but still isn’t abandoning his friends in the Deir ez-Zor front despite his crutches.
ANF met 25 years old Ali Serêkaniyê in a YPG position in Deir ez-Zor. He stands out with the cast on his leg and his crutches. When we went to talk to him, I learned that he was wounded in the operation in Raqqa city center. He went to Qamishlo to receive treatment, but couldn’t leave the front behind despite his friends insisting. With every incoming group, he visits his friends.
Ali Serêkaniyê is no stranger to the frontlines. He has been a part of the war since 2012. He said he couldn’t leave the battle front behind, and that it is a different world out there: “Once you experience the dust, the scorching sun, the mud, the rain, all the hardship, you can’t let it go. The hardship makes the soul grow, you learn friendship and humanity all over again. It may be hard for people who haven’t experienced it to feel this, to understand us, but anybody who has seen it once will understand better.
“I CAN’T STAY AWAY”
Serêkaniyê said he was wounded in Raqqa and his friends wanted him to continue with the treatment and get better: “So I am getting treated, but Raqqa is over and the comrades are now fighting in Deir ez-Zor. Even though I am wounded, I can’t rest easy away from here. That is why I want to come with every chance I get and be among friends.”
LIFE INSIDE THE WAR
YPG and YPJ fighters share all hardships and fight together to the death. Whenever they catch a break from the war, they reinforce security measures and guards, and strengthen common life through sports, music and education. Ali Serêkaniyê explained: “For us this is natural. We have been inside this war for years. We are not fighting for death, but life. Of course we will also manage to enjoy life and make things beautiful.”
CAME FROM THE YXK
He was part of the YXK, first defense force Kurds formed in Rojava to defend neighborhoods and streets. With the formation of the first YPG brigades, he joined them. He went to Aleppo after Serêkaniye and was part of the epic resistance there. He talked about how the Raqqa battle wasn’t so hard for him: “We had it hard in Aleppo. There was no international support. We learned urban warfare under harsh conditions. That is why no comrade who fought in Aleppo had any hard times in the battle of Raqqa.”