The Daughters of Kobani

After the fight in Raqqa, the SDF went on to take down the final few ISIS outposts. The official end of the conflict was March 23, 2019.

Just six months later, the Kurds once again found themselves at war. This time, the aggressors were neither terrorists nor Assad, but a sovereign nation, Turkey, who’d long ago designated the YPG a terrorist organization, given its ties to Abdullah Öcalan.

As of now, Turkey controls a portion of northeastern Syria along their shared border. They continue to threaten attacks in Kobani and other Kurdish-majority cities. A diminished US presence remains, with soldiers assisting the Syrian Kurds to maneuver as well as providing some measure of leverage.

As for Nowruz, Znarin, Azeema, and Rojda, each of them hopes desperately for an end to the conflict. Still, some things have improved for them since the end of the war, particularly in regards to their family lives. Rojda’s uncle – the one who’d tried to stop her from playing soccer – now actively seeks out her advice. And Znarin counts her uncle – the one who’d stopped her from getting an education and almost arranged her marriage – among her friends.

The future of northeastern Syria and the Kurdish women and men living there is as yet uncertain. No matter what happens, though, Kurdish women will not stop fighting for their rights. They will no longer allow the world to tell them what they should want and how they should ask for it. Instead, they will tell you themselves, in their own voices, for all to hear.

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Fight on the frontlines alongside a group of women who stood up to ISIS.

The northern Syrian city of Kobani was surrounded. Battle-hardened fighters from the Islamic extremist group ISIS controlled three-quarters of the city; their tanks had advanced to Mishtanour, a strategic hilltop nearby.

For days, militias fought ISIS on Mishtanour until they were commanded to withdraw. But some fighters didn’t obey the order. Among them was a woman named Arin Mirkan. Instead of pulling back, Mirkan decided to strap a grenade to her waist and charge an oncoming ISIS tank. When she reached the tank, she detonated the grenade, killing herself and all of the fighters inside.

Mirkan was part of a militia led entirely by women – the “daughters” of Kobani whose goals went beyond simply defeating ISIS. They were also fighting for women’s rights in a culture that claimed women had none. This book tells the stories of four incredible women – Azeema, Rojda, Nowruz, and Znarin – who took part in that fight.

A warning before we begin: This book contain disturbing accounts of violence, sexual abuse, and misogyny.

In this book, you’ll learn

• how a soccer match eventually led to a civil war;

• what happened when Azeema got shot; and

• how the women-led Kurdish forces helped take back Raqqa.