Nûjiyan Çirav is one of the countless disabled people of the Rojava revolution. On the front near al-Bab, she lost a foot in the fight against the Islamic State. But that didn't stop her from continuing to fight for the Rojava women's revolution. She joined the Rojava revolution in 2015.

The battle for Şikeyf

When she arrived in Rojava, the city of Kobanê had already been liberated, but some villages were still under ISIS occupation. Nûjiyan Çirav immediately took part in the offensives to liberate these villages. The first village where they fought was Şikeyf. There she immediately got into close combat with ISIS. "The fighting had spread over large areas. We were eight friends. Together we sneaked camouflaged over the Sirîn front in the direction of the village. When we reached the village, we were surrounded on all sides by ISIS,” Çirav said, adding: “However, the situation was reversed by the use of heavy weapons from the rear and we surrounded the Islamic State. During the six-hour clash, we came within ten meters of ISIS for the first time, and fierce fighting ensued. As we continued to advance, ten mercenaries appeared in front of me. I threw my grenade. I had strayed far from my friends. When I understood that the area was now clean, I called my friends. I heard their calls at the same time. They were calling Heval Cûdî. Cûdî was wounded and Goran, who had come to the rescue, was also wounded. We got them out. Our group kept getting smaller. We were only five out of eight and we still had a long way to go. But we successfully cleared the village of Şikeyf, liberated it, captured ISIS ammunition and killed 26 ISIS mercenaries."

At the forefront of attack

The village of Şikeyf is strategically located between Sirîn and Tişrîn. Çirav and her friends stayed there for a long time, waiting for further liberation offensives to start. Then the offensive on Tişrîn began. After three of her comrades fell in an ISIS ambush, she joined an attack column.

The liberation of Tişrîn

"We infiltrated a hill near Tişrîn," said Çirav, adding: "After 10 minutes the fighting started. On the other side, were about twelve mercenaries and behind them were twenty more. A car bomb was already on its way to us. We had taken the strategically most important hill. All that remained was to eliminate the ISIS mercenaries in the area. And that's the way it went. The plan was perfectly implemented, and the Tişrîn Dam was liberated. After the dam was liberated, the Euphrates stood between us and the Islamic State. ISIS tried to retake the dam, but the operation in Manbij  strengthened our position in a short time. With this advance, the threats to Tişrîn were eliminated, most of Manbij was liberated, and most of the ISIS mercenaries retreated towards al-Bab. Al-Bab had now become their center."

From Kobanê to al-Bab

Çirav continued: “From Tabqa the other rural areas around Manbij should be liberated. The group of four I was part of advanced towards al-Bab. The first village we reached was the village of Erîman without any clashes. ISIS tried to attack, but we foiled these attacks despite our small numbers. The Turkish troops and ISIS were unable to penetrate the village and resorted to attacks with heavy weapons. On the second day, we were subjected to heavy mortar and howitzer attacks. The nature of the attack had changed. We had to develop a new plan and strategy. Four of us sat down and we were just working out a new plan when we suddenly came under heavy artillery fire.

Losing a foot

Each of us was thrown to one side, unable to open our eyes because of the dust and smoke. At that moment, I felt a pain in my foot. When I opened my eyes, I was lying on one side and my foot was on the other. Fearing that I would never find my foot again, I dragged myself to it and put it on my knee. I'd been wounded many times, but only minor injuries. I was shocked when I suddenly saw my foot somewhere else. I kept my foot in my lap until I reached Kobanê. When I woke up after the surgery, my foot was no longer in my lap. I demanded my foot back. But it was time to say goodbye to it. For a moment I remembered my childhood. Imagining that if my foot was white and clean it would definitely go to heaven, and if it was black and dirty it would definitely go to hell. My laughter caught the doctor's and friends' attention. When I talked about it, everyone burst out laughing.

Foot buried with Şehîd Roza

Two days had passed since my injury. A ceremony for the fallen Roza was to be organized in Kobanê. I was in great pain as my wound was still fresh. But I went to the ceremony. I wore a t-shirt and a shirt. I was surprised when my girlfriends asked for my shirt. I wondered what they were up to, but they put my foot in my shirt and buried it along with Roza.

When it was buried with Roza, I remembered the story again: if the foot was white it would go to heaven and if it was black it would go to hell. Now it was in heaven with Roza.”