Pervîn Xelîl/JINHA

HESEKÊ – As YPG/YPJ forces start a comprehensive operation to push Daesh out of the area around the Rojava city of Hesekê, local people in the 11 recently liberated villages and hamlets have been relieved to see the YPJ fighters advance.

Daesh attacks on the Hesekê region increased around Newroz (March 21), when Daesh launched a suicide bomb attack on Newroz celebrations in the city center. As gangs increasingly harried the villages around Hesekê, local people contacted YPG/YPJ forces and asked for help organizing self-defense forces.

YPJ fighter Dilda Cûdî says that after an operation to protect Til Hemîs, the Hesekê operation was next on the fighters' agenda. On May 7, YPG/YPJ forces launched what fighters have declared a revenge operation for the martyrs of the Newroz massacres. "Now we're reaching victory on the front with our folk songs and our enthusiasm," said Dilda.

"We've been resisting here for six days," said YPJ fighter Göksu Hesekê, speaking to JINHA from her post in a trench. "We're advancing successfully. It's the YPJ leading the resistance, which is a big source of inspiration for the people and guerrillas here." The local villagers, mostly Arab, said they were glad to see the Kurdish guerrillas arrive.

"When I saw the woman guerrillas and their excitement, the black clouds lifted and I could tell brighter days were coming," said villager Şemsa Ana. A young woman villager named Şerin reported that gangs frequently looted her village, but her family was afraid to say anything for fear that Daesh would kill them. Villager Hanım noted that women were afraid to go outside, even to go to the hospital, for fear of Daesh calling it a "sin" and punishing them.

"The existence of the YPJ is a source of security for us," says Fatma Ana, an Arab villager. "Now our children are here and we're safe. May God never show us those terrorists' faces again."

(do/fk/cm)