Rojin Deniz-Sara Xwinda/JINHA

SHENGAL – This International Women's Day, women fighters with the YJA Star and YPJ Shengal held a joint celebration on Shengal Mountain for women living in the camps there.

After Daesh attacked Shengal in August, kidnapping thousands of women and children, Kurdish fighters from across the region played a critical role in driving Daesh away from the mountain area, inhabited primarily by Êzîdîs. For the first March 8 after the attack, the fighters held a celebration that attendees said was the most colorful Shengal has ever seen.

The women fighters and women camp residents held a joint march in celebration of women's resistance. They read PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's March 8 message to women, which met with applause and slogans. The women also danced traditional dances together.

YJA Star Commander Sema Eylül said that, "As our leader said, we're going to make sure not just today but every day is women's day. When we came to Shengal we promised that we would defend women and we're renewing our promise. Until Shengal is free, until women are free and until imprisoned women are free we won't give up."

(fk/mg/cm)