MESOP LATEST : ISIL hands over corpses of Kurdish YPG fighters

14-04-2014 – ARA News – Qamishli, Syria− The General Command of the Popular Protection Units (YPG) announced on Friday that it has received corpses of four of its fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after negotiations.   

The four Kurdish YPG fighters have been killed during clashes with the ISIL group earlier this month.  The YPG General Command has reportedly communicated with the ISIL leadership through a mediator to receive the corpses of its dead fighters. “We call on our Kurdish people to to participate in the funeral of these fighters to honour their sacrifice,” a statement issued by the YPG General Command read.

The YPG General Command confirmed in the statement that the (YPG) fighters will continue to defend “Rojava” (Syria’s Kurdish areas) and will remain “an impregnable dam defending the Kurdish people against the evil invading forces” (in reference to Islamists involved in battles in Syria’s Kurdish areas).  

The statement pointed out that “the forces of darkness and terrorism (in reference to ISIL group) still exist in “Rojava territory” targeting the Kurdish people to destabilize their security and stability.

“The YPG had lost four fighters during its confrontation with the ISIL groups last March during the campaign of ‘Revenge for the martyrs of Qamishli’ in the villages of al-Rawiya, al-Dahma’a and Tel al-Bogha,” the statement added.The General Command’s statement emphasized that the bodies of the four YPG fighters were returned through a local mediator in an exchange deal with the ISIL group, calling on the Kurdish people to “receive and embrace the fighters’ bodies within a solemn ceremony for their respected sacrifice”. The YPG-led armed campaign of ‘Revenge for the martyrs of Qamishli’ was launched last March after the ambush carried out by Islamist fighters of ISIL in the area of Tel Hamis in the southern countryside of Qamishli. At least 40 YPG fighters were reportedly killed in the ISIL-led ambush.