JINHA

DÊRIK - The bodies of 11 fighters in the YPG and YPJ defense forces have been borne across the border from Rojava to Southern Kurdistan. Their final destination is Northern Kurdistan (Turkey), where they will be buried.

A crowd of thousands accompanied the bodies of 11 YPG/YPJ fighters to the Sêmalka Border Gate between Rojava and Southern Kurdistan. The fighters lost their lives fighting against Daesh in the Rojava autonomous region of Syria. Their bodies will ultimately be transported to Northern Kurdistan in Turkey, traveling by way of Southern Kurdistan in Iraq.

Thousands of people from the Rojava cities of Dêrik and Girkê Legê gathered for a military ceremony for the eleven fighters at the Sêmalka border gate. YPG/YPJ fighters and commanders joined in paying their respects to the fallen fighters.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party, the ruling party in the Kurdish region of Iraq, originally refused permission for the bodies to cross the border into Iraq, from whence they would be sent to Turkey for their funerals. After the people gathered to send off the coffins protested, the KDP opened the border gate.

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