Arin Mirkan
Arin Mirkan (Kurdish: Arîn Mîrkan, born Deilar Genj Khamis) was a female fighter in the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) who died fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Siege of Kobanî on October 5, 2014. She fought on Mishtanour Hill with Rojda Felat, who later became the general commander of the YPJ . On the hill, Mirkan killed herself, along with numerous ISIL fighters, with explosives, to avoid being captured alive by ISIS.
Arin Mirkan was 20 (or 22) and a mother of two. Haj Mansour, the Kurdish defence official in Kobani, reported that Kurdish fighters had been forced to withdraw from a strategic hill south of Kobani. Mirkan stayed behind, attacking ISIL militants as they surrounded her. She eventually detonated explosives attached to her body, killing ten enemy fighters.
Twenty-seven ISIL fighters were thought to have died in the day's clashes, but it is unclear how many were the result of Arin's explosives.
Memorials
In Kobanî a statue remembering Arin Mirkan was erected. Andrew Webb-Mitchell composed a violin concerto named Arin Mirkan.
References
- ^ forestbather (2014-10-06). "To Arin Mirkan". From my Forest. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ Mogelson, Luke (2017-10-30). "Dark Victory in Raqqa". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ Defeating the Islamic State Group: The Battle for Kobani. Mango Media Inc. 2015-03-30. ISBN 9781633531727.
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ignored (help) - ^ Dicle, Amed. "In memory of Arin Mirkan…". Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ "In praise of Arin Mirkan | Brendan O'Neill". www.spiked-online.com. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ "Female Kurdish fighter kills herself while capturing town, killing 27 Isis militants". The Independent. 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
- ^ "Kobani, a city reborn after 'Islamic State' expulsion | DW | 18.10.2017". DW.COM. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
- ^ maestrohartung (2018-05-21), Webb-Mitchell Violin Concerto 'Arin Mirkan': Liza Basoff • Volker Hartung • Cologne New Philharmonic, retrieved 2019-03-11