YJA Star Guerrillas Ronahî Dilxwîn and Arîn Tolhildan were killed in an attack by the Turkish army on the Medya Defense Areas. The Press Office of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) said in a statement that the deadly attack was reportedly carried out in mid-June. The HPG provided the following information about the guerrillas' personal data:

 Code name: Ronahî Dilxwîn

 First and last name: Vesile Duran

 Place of birth: Wan

 Names of mother and father: Dilber - Bişar

 Date and place of death: 16/06/2024 Medya Defense Areas

 Code name: Arîn Tolhildan

 First and last name: Dilan Öklü

 Place of birth: Wan

 Names of mother and father: Saadet - Hasan

 Date and place of death: 16/06/2024 Medya Defense Areas

Ronahî Dilxwîn

Ronahî Dilxwîn was born in the province of Van (Wan) in North Kurdistan and belonged to a family close to the Kurdish liberation struggle. Her childhood and youth were shaped by the resistance of her parents and family against the Turkish state's policy of war and oppression in Kurdistan. As she grew older, she also focused on reflecting on and questioning the contradictions in the way she sees herself as a woman with regard to unequal power relations between the sexes in heteropatriarchal societies. She wanted to fight against the situation of women as an oppressed gender and recognized that guerrilla resistance offers women the opportunity to overthrow all existing conditions and take the step that is important: to become the subject of life and a free future from being an object of discipline.

Ronahî Dilxwîn made her way to the mountains in 2014. She joined the guerrilla in her native region of Van and then moved to the Medya Defense Areas. After military training programs, she deepened her intellectual, political and ideological skills. She was then active for the Free Women’s Units (YJA Star) in various areas of the resistance, including the construction and expansion of guerrilla infrastructure such as the underground tunnel systems, but also as a "mission carrier" and as a fighter in the special forces.

She has fought on the fronts of the "hot war" since the beginning of the Turkish occupation operation in Metîna, Zap and Avaşîn in April 2021.

Arîn Tolhildan

Arîn Tolhildan also came from Van. Her parents belong to the Zêvkî tribe, which is one of the long-established family confederations in the Botan region. As a result, she grew up in a traditionally resistant environment and was an early witness to the colonial reality in Kurdistan. She was also troubled by the contradictions regarding the position of women in society. In her opinion, women were victims of modern slavery that permeated every aspect of social life. She herself longed for a completely different, communal reality, far from power, oppression and greed.

The resistance in Kobanê against the Islamic State demonstrated a radical shift from patriarchy to equality. It was women who fought on the front lines against ISIS. This fact impressed Arîn Tolhildan. From the very beginning, she was aware that the construction of a free society can only succeed on the basis of women's liberation and only if this criterion is anchored in social morality. When Turkish state attacks in North Kurdistan intensified during the battle for Kobanê, she decided to fight for her ideals in the guerrilla movement.

Shortly after arriving in the mountains and completing her initial basic military training, Arîn Tolhildan moved to the war front. It was 2015 when the Turkish state unilaterally ended the dialogue process with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and initiated the war of annihilation against the Kurdish freedom movement in Kurdistan.

When she lost her brother, guerrilla Tolhildan (Vedat Öklü), in 2019, in the Besta region, she went to the front of her own free will, where she served until her death.

The HPG describe Arîn Tolhildan and Ronahî Dilxwîn as two brave and selfless revolutionaries who represented the militancy of the PKK and PAJK until the very last moment. "They were advocates of a free life based on women's liberation. As HPG, we will always feel connected to Hevala Arîn and Hevala Ronahî. We express our condolences to their families and the Kurdish people."