Posted on 09/19/2017 5:45:10 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
Ezed Mihemed Ehmed is a Kurdish youth from Raqqa. He was 15 years-old when his family fled Raqqa after ISIS invasion. At that time he wanted to join the YPG ranks but was refused because of his young age.
His family sent him to Turkey because they thought the conditions were better than Syria. After only 5 months Ehmed returned to his country. As soon as he turned 18 he joined the YPG and now all he wants is to return to the city where he was born and raised. “Real heaven for a person is the land where he was born and raised” Ehmed says.
Ehmed spoke to ANF about how he lived in Raqqa, what changed after ISIS invasion, how he joined the YPG and his participation in the military campaign to liberate his hometown.
How was your life in Raqqa before the war? What forced you to leave home?
We were living in Raqqa before the war. I was born and raised in Raqqa like my father and mother. My family had moved there a long time ago. We consider ourselves as Raqqa natives.
There is no need to explain how life was in Raqqa before the war. Whatever it’s we were happy there. I started my life there. I was going to school, I had friends. I took my first steps in life in Raqqa.
I was raised in a middle-class family. We were able to make both ends meet. Although there were people from different religions and ethnicities in Raqqa we were living side by side without any problem. Nobody was excluding one another. I had Arab, Turkmen, Circassian and Assyrian friends. Nobody excluded me for being Kurdish.
When the civil war started first the Free Syrian Army entered the town. Then ISIS followed. ISIS declared all the Kurds infidels and forced them to move out of Raqqa. We had no choice but to move to Kobanê at the time.
When did you join the YPG?
When the Battle of Kobanê started my family sent me to Turkey. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to join the YPG but they didn’t accept, saying thatI was too young to join the ranks. After that I had to follow my family’s wishes.
But I faced the truth during the time I lived in Turkey. I was staying with some friends of our family. We were subjected to oppression and exclusion in Turkey. Some of my friends went to the camps set up by Turkey. I haven’t heard from many of them since.
We couldn’t speak Turkish. We were speaking Arabic and Kurdish. Once they understood that we are Kurds from Syria, they started mistreatment. The Turkish police called us “terrorists”. And they used a lot of harsh words against us.
After 5 months, I said myself that I would return to Rojava at all costs. And I did. Whatever happens no one should ever leave their land. Even if there is war or even if there is a risk of death, the only heaven for a person is the land where he was born and raised.
When I returned I wanted to join YPG but I was refused again. I had to wait until I was 18.
You are now part of the operation to liberate Raqqa. How does this make you feel?
I insisted to take part in the Raqqa offensive. It became the most important thing in my life. Because when I was in Turkey I swore myself to fight against ISIS no matter what, and that I should take part in the operation to liberate Raqqa. If a person does not stand up and defend the land where he was born and raised, there is no meaning of life for him.
Now I am taking part in the Raqqa offensive. Our operation is now in its fourth month and we have taken 70 percent of the city from ISIS.
We are fighting a tough war in Raqqa. This is the last stronghold for ISIS and they are doing everything within their power to avoid the loss of Raqqa. There are almost no buildings and no stores in Raqqa that are not booby-trapped by ISIS gangs. There are ISIS snipers stationed everywhere. Each day they are attacking with suicide attacks, bomb laden vehicles. But all of their efforts are in vein.
What put most pressure on you during the operation?
The thing that puts most pressure on us is ISIS’ use of civilians as human shields. They know that we are very sensitive about avoiding civilian casualties. That’s why they are using civilians more and more. Sometimes they hide among civilians during clashes and continue to fire on us. Or they get into the civilians and get near us even, in civilian clothes. Sometimes they use civilians as shields and sometimes they set up ambushes using civilians. They force the civilians to call the SDF fighters for rescue. And when our fighters approach they start to fire.
Were any SDF fighters killed in this kind of ambushes?
Right, some of our comrades were martyred or wounded under these circumstances. There are many such cases but I will tell you one of them; we were advancing in a neighbourhood. There was a group of civilians. They were about 50 to 100 meters away from us. We called them to move towards us. But they just stared at us and remained silent. They were not moving at all. We thought that they were afraid and we started to approach slowly towards them. As we got closer some of the civilians used hand gestures to tell us to keep away.
Suddenly there was a burst of gunfire. It turned out that the ISIS gangs had set up an ambush using the civilians. And when they saw the civilians were actually trying to warn us they started to shoot at them.
One of our fighters moved towards the gangs and returned fire. At that moment the civilian group had the time to flee to a secure spot. After two hours long fighting we managed to rescue all the civilians.
When they came near us all of them were crying. “We told you to stay away. Why did you come towards us? Your friend died because of us!” they said. They were praying at the same time. “God sent you to us” they kept on saying. Some women and old men were still crying until we transferred them to a safer location.
What will you do when Raqqa operation is over?
We won’t stop. We won’t stop after it’s over. We will continue this struggle until every part of Syria is freed of these gangs. We will continue to fight until there is no ISIS left in the world.
May the end of ISIS come very soon.
FMagdelyns @F_Magdelyns
ISIS defense lines in Raqqa rapidly collapses, battle could end in few days #raqqah #Raqqa
It looks like ISIS is really getting pushed back rapidly in Raqqa now.
I wonder if they are falling back to a smaller defensive zone on order, or if this is systemic collapse?
1244 ISIS were killed last month.
I’m sure the numbers are getting small. But it is possible they regrouped in another defensive position via tunnels. It’s likely we could detect that. Our electronic vacuum cleaners must be working overtime.
The attitude of the native from Syria really illuminates how the “refugee” movement into the West really is a Soros operation. Real men don’t RUN AWAY from their homeland they stay and fight.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
