The people of Kobanê and YPG fighters are fighting side by side on three fronts of the town besieged by ISIS gangs.

67-year-old Uncle Nemir, fighting on the eastern front, called on the youth of Kobanê, who left the town in the face of ISIS attacks, to “come and reclaim Kobanê”, while 19 year-old YPJ fighter, Nefel, fighting at the same front with Uncle Nemir replied to the question: “Why are you smiling all the time?”, saying: “We are fighting for our people and our country. We are fighting for our leadership. This is why we are always in high spirits”.

The historic resistance of the YPG/YPJ fighters has continued in the face of the attacks of ISIS gangs in the Kobanê Canton of Rojava (West Kurdistan) since 15 September. The people of Kobanê and fighters coming from all around the world and joining the YPG are fighting side by side against the ISIS gangs.

While the clashes continue ceaselessly on the eastern and southern fronts, the gangs have launched at least 15 truck-bomb attacks so far as they could not break down the resistance of the YPG/YPJ fighters and the Kobanê militias.

Whereas the gangs use all the superior technical equipment they have, YPG/YPJ fighters and militias from Kobanê say they fight with their will and determination and that they will never let Kobanê fall.

The number of the youth who joined YPG/YPJ from all four parts of Kurdistan and from the big cities in Turkey where they lived in exile is worthy of attention. All the fighters we talked to answer the question as to where they are from thus: “We are now from Kobanê” and “Kurdistan is now Kobanê”.

The areas on the eastern side of the town where the ISIS gangs have entered look like they have been destroyed in an earthquake. YPG/YPJ fighters have held their positions in these ruins and are resisting the gangs. The eastern and southern fronts of the town are connected to each other by holes opened in the walls of houses and work places. The town has been desolated by the mortar attacks of ISIS and their bomb-laden vehicles, exploded mostly by YPG forces. Despite all the destruction, the fighters on the battlefield keep their spirits and morale high.

We meet Uncle Nemir (Xelîlê Osman), whom we encountered 4 months ago at the battlefield on the Martyr Hogir Hill between Aşmê and Çarixlî villages on the western front of Kobanê, when the attacks of ISIS on Kobanê had started afresh, on the eastern front this time, again at the frontline.

We asked Uncle Nemir at that time why he had taken the name “Nemir”, which means “immortal” in Kurdish, and he answered: “Because I will not die before the revolution is secured”. We see that Uncle Nemir keeps his promise on the eastern front.

Almost all the comrades of Uncle Nemir, who is 67, are between 19 and 25. One of these is 19 year-old Nefel. While Uncle Nemir fights at one edge of their emplacement with a Kalashnikov in his hand, Nefel fights at the other edge with a heavy machine gun against the ISIS gangs.

Uncle Nemir calls the gangs “Gemarî (dirt)” and says that he will fight until they are thrown out of Kobanê and adds: “I am a YPG member. My real name is Xelîlê Osman. My name in the movement is Nemir. My two sons also fight together with me, although I have not seen them for over a month. I don’t know where they are or what they are called. I have been in many battles and I ‘ve been wounded. I will fight until I throw these gangs out of here”.

Uncle Nemir gets emotional while talking and says he has lost many of his young comrades on the battlefield, and that he finds it hard to bear. “I thank the people of Kurdistan for the support they have given to us. I call on all the people of Kurdistan and the people of Amed. I call on them not to leave us alone as they have not done so far. Many people have fallen in front of my eyes. I want my voice to reach to all. I call on all the youth with honour and conscience to come here and rescue their town from these gangs. I call on those who sit and talk to come here and reclaim their town”, says Uncle Nemir.

Uncle Nemir asks us to leave the photos we took at the YPG Press Centre so that they have some pictures of him in case he falls on the battlefield and bids farewell to us, saying: “you are now also my comrades”.

We then talk to 19 year-old Nefel from the YPJ, who fights on the same front with Uncle Nemir. Nefel starts by talking about this veteran revolutionary and says: “Uncle Nemir is an emotional and devoted person. He appreciates us fighting here, having come from different places in Kurdistan. He always says it is better that something happens to him rather than to us. He is very sensitive. He keeps watch, he is always at the frontline”.

YPJ member Nefel tells us that the gangs have attacked ceaselessly on the eastern front for 3 days and says that the gangs have started to attack with explosive laden trucks as they failed to break down the resistance. She says that she seized the BKC heavy machine gun she holds in her hands from the gangs and says that they now hit the gangs with their own weapons. We ask her: “All the YPG and YPJ fighters we have seen so far were all smiling. Is there any meaning of this?”. She says: “We are fighting for our people and our country. We are fighting for our leadership. This is why we are always in high spirits”.

Gelhat, one of the commanders of the YPG at the eastern front, says the gangs are now facing one of two options, “either death or going out of Kobanê” and adds: “Everyone has seen that Kobanê is not an easy morsel to digest. Kobanê upset the plans of all except ours. ISIS cannot hold on to Kobanê. At most, all they can do is to ruin the city, they have nothing that they can achieve”.

Another commander of the YPG on the eastern front, Elî, says that the gangs have started to plunder and load household goods on to trucks in the villages and then leave. Elî says: “the ones fighting there are able neither to return nor to advance. They will be executed if they return. So, they have no way out other than fighting here”.