Kobane Massacre: Revenge for the ISIS defeat

Supported by many forces in the region, particularly the Turkish state, ISIS attacked Kobane on September 15, 2014. ISIS captured 350 villages of Kobane and attacked the city centre as well. The People’s Defense Units (YPG) and the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) put up the greatest resistance in history in the face of attacks that lasted for months. On January 26, 2015, ISIS received its biggest blow in Kobane. This defeat marked the “beginning of the end” for ISIS. Moreover, it was a big rupture within ISIS and its supporters.

The defeat of ISIS was also a great defeat for the invading Turkish state which sought to steer ISIS. For Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan, who said at that time, “Kobane is about to fall,” it meant that all his plans had failed. The invading Turkish state and ISIS which did not tolerate this defeat, attacked Kobane from Turkey territory on June 25, 2015. As many as 233 civilians, mostly women, children and the elderly, lost their lives and hundreds of civilians were injured during the attack.

BERXBOTAN VILLAGE

27 civilians were killed by ISIS in the Berxbotan village of Kobane. The village consists of 120 households. The village is known for its patriotism and the price it paid in the Kurdistan freedom struggle. The Berxbotan village residents who participated in the struggle since the beginning of the Rojava revolution played a major role in the war against Jabhad al-Nusra and ISIS. 30 fighters fell as martyrs in the war against ISIS and Jabhad al-Nusra.

MERCENARIES KILLED SON IN SIGHT OF MOTHER

ISIS attacked Kobane on 25 June 2015 from Turkey’s border. 27 civilians, mostly women, children and the elderly, were killed in the attack. Mother Eyş, who was one of the witnesses of the massacre and whose son fell martyr in the massacre, described that day as follows:

“I woke up for sahur (meal eaten before starting fasting in Ramadan). I heard gunshots. I asked my son ‘what is it, did the friends capture Sirinê? My son said to me, ‘these are mercenaries, get in right away’. I asked him to come home with me. But my son replied that he would not come and that he would fight them until the end. Three mercenaries came in and looked into the rooms. It was dark inside, my grandson hid behind me, they did not see us. Then they went out and entered our neighbour’s house. They killed seven people in that house. My son was in front of the door, they shot him as well. They later fled and moved towards Kobane.”

THEY CAME FOR REVENGE, BUT WERE DEFEATED AGAIN

Mihemmed Hebib, who lost his wife in the massacre, said: “June 25, 2015 was a dark day for us. ISIS felt raw about the defeat it had received in Kobane. They wanted to take revenge by attacking Kobane and its villages. They started attacking from everywhere. It was Ramadan, the villagers woke up for sahur. We saw cars passing first, then they started attacking. The village residents clashed with them. During this attack, 28 people were martyred in the village and one of them was my wife. Four people from my wife’s family were also martyred. The mercenaries stayed in the village for four hours. However, the resistance of the villagers and the YPG-YPJ fighters drove the mercenaries out of the village at half-past eight in the morning.”

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