Arin Mirkan

Arin Mirkan (Deilar Genj Khamis) was a commander 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.[1] She fought on Mishtanour Hill with Rojda Felat, who later became the general commander of the YPJ.[2] On the hill, Mirkan killed herself, along with numerous ISIL fighters, with explosives.[2] The incident was the first known case of a YPJ fighter carrying out a suicide attack.[3]

Arin Mirkan[4] was 20 (or 22[5]) and a mother of two.[6] Haj Mansour, the Kurdish defence official in Kobane, reported that Kurdish fighters had been forced to withdraw from a strategic hill south of Kobane. Mirkan stayed behind, attacking ISIL militants as they surrounded her. She eventually detonated explosives attached to her body, killing ten enemy fighters.[4]

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.[7]

Memory

In Kobanî a statue remembering Arin Mirkan was erected.[8] Andrew Webb-Mitchell composed a violin concerto named Arin Mirkan.[9]

References
  1. forestbather (2014-10-06). "To Arin Mirkan". From my Forest. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  2. Mogelson, Luke (2017-10-30). "Dark Victory in Raqqa". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  3. Smith, Lydia (2014-10-07). "Kurdish Female Fighters: The History of Women on the Frontline". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  4. Defeating the Islamic State Group: The Battle for Kobani. Mango Media Inc. Associated Press. 2015-03-30. ISBN 9781633531727.
  5. Dicle, Amed. "In memory of Arin Mirkan…". Archived from the original on 2017-09-10. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  6. "In praise of Arin Mirkan | Brendan O'Neill". www.spiked-online.com. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  7. "Female Kurdish fighter kills herself while capturing town, killing 27 Isis militants". The Independent. 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2017-09-10.
  8. "Kobani, a city reborn after 'Islamic State' expulsion | DW | 18.10.2017". DW.COM. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  9. maestrohartung (2018-05-21), Webb-Mitchell Violin Concerto ‘Arin Mirkan‘: Liza Basoff • Volker Hartung • Cologne New Philharmonic, retrieved 2019-03-11
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