Barîn Kobanê is one of the many disabled fighters of the Rojava revolution. She comes from a patriotic family in Kobanê and grew up there with her mother. She introduced her to the Kurdish struggle for freedom before the revolution in Rojava. Her mother witnessed Abdullah Öcalan's twenty-year struggle in Syria and even had the opportunity to meet him in Lebanon. Barîn Kobanê grew up listening to her mother's stories and joined the Rojava revolution in 2014. At that time, the Şehîd Gelhat offensive to liberate the Qamishlo area and the Şehîd Rûbar Qamişlo offensive in the Cizîrê region took place.

Two Good News

When the news of the liberation of Girê Spî broke, Barîn saw her first fight. "It was to be the first time that I would fight on the front line," she said, adding: "While I felt joy about this, the second piece of good news reached us – Girê Spî was now free. There was nothing more that stood between the regions of Kobanê and Cizîrê. The YPG/YPJ forces from both cantons were supposed to meet, celebrate the event with a big ceremony and drive to Kobanê in a convoy for reinforcements. After the liberation of Kobanê, everyone wanted to see the now free city with their own eyes. Because Kobanê had become a stronghold of the resistance. We were all amazed at how this small town had witnessed such a large and meaningful resistance. We were part of this resistance, but we wanted to see it again with our own eyes.

Kobanê became a sacred place

Kobanê became a sacred place through the blood of the martyrs. In the midst of all this excitement, we didn't even realize how we got to Kobanê. Our drive to Kobanê took five hours. We arrived in the 48th district. Destroyed houses and the smell of gunpowder marked the picture of a neighbourhood soaked with the blood of the fallen. I had little combat experience. Because of this, I was assigned to a professional unit and listened to my friends' experiences to learn. I participated in smaller actions and tried to apply what I learned in combat. In addition, we continuously built strong defensive positions. We were all very exhausted, both from the fighting and from fortifying our positions. Sometimes we didn't sleep for a week. In such an intense and tiring phase, the mercenaries never missed an opportunity to infiltrate our positions."

The June 25 massacre

On 25 June 2015, the Islamic State entered Kobanê across the Turkish border, among other places, and killed 252 civilians. This day will go down in history as the day of the Kobanê massacre. Barîn Kobanê said: "June 25th was a hot summer's day. The weather was so hot we didn't know where to find shade. In the midst of this heat, our commander came to us and said: 'The mercenaries entered Kobanê, there was a massacre ...' After these words, we forgot about the heat, as if fire were raining from the sky, and we immediately set off, because friends told us on the way that the mercenaries had entered the village of Berxbotan. When we arrived, some mercenaries were still there. These merciless mercenaries had murdered everyone they encountered, including women and children. The villagers had welcomed them warmly as they were dressed as YPG/YPJ units, but the mercenaries went from house to house, shooting one person after another. When we got to the village, the residents of Berxbotan showed us where the mercenaries were hiding, and with the help of the residents, all the mercenaries were eliminated. The massacre in the village of Berxbotan killed 233 civilians and injured at least 273. With this massacre, our people, whose hearts were already severely wounded by the war for Kobanê, suffered another wound. Some families lost their children both in the resistance in Kobanê and in this massacre. Being children of these people, we could understand very well the pain and joy of the mothers and fathers."

The battle for Sirîn

Barîn Kobanê said: "The struggle continued with the liberation of Sirîn. I took part. We advanced step by step. The enemy did everything they could to gain time and hinder our advance. Booby traps were used most frequently. The place where we stayed was littered with the remains of defused mines."

40 day-struggle for survival

Barîn Kobanê continued: "We advanced day by day. Our steps were careful because the area was full of mines. As I passed mine after mine, I noticed a mine in front of me. As I passed it, I saw an earth-colored, thin cable. When I turned to warn my friends, one of them hit the cable and the mines exploded one by one. I couldn't open my eyes anymore. As soon as I put my hand to my eye, it got wet. When I woke up I was in the hospital. 40 days had passed and I had lost both of my eyes. The dust and smoke from the explosion were now hidden in the darkness."