Halabja Residents Fight the IS on Many Fronts

By Rebin Yarahmed

HALABJA, Kurdistan Region—A group of young men leaving town to join armed groups in Syria has once again put Halabja in local media spotlight.

This time however, the Halabjans have joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its branch in Syria the People’s Protection Units (YPG) who have been fighting Islamist militants in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) for more than two years.

“We have a number of youth in the ranks of the PKK and YPG,” said Arkan Hassan, the mayor of Halabja. “They are in Syria to defend the land of Kurdistan.”

Earlier this year local authorities reported that a number of young men from Sulaimani and Halabja had traveled to Syria to join Islamist groups in their jihad against Bashar al-Assad.

But since the establishment of the Islamic State (IS) in June more Kurds across the Middle East have joined the Peshmerga, the PKK and YPG as volunteers.

Because the PKK/YPG are mainly based in Rojava, the Halabja youth who wish to join the group cross Kurdistan’s western border and enlist there.

Security officials in Halabja said that in August alone three young men from Halabja have joined the PKK/YPG.

Captain Aras, the public relations officer of the Halabja security department, said the security forces “had investigated the sudden disappearance of those young men.”

“But after we found out that they had joined the YPG, we closed their dossier,” he told Rudaw.

The number of volunteers joining various secular Kurdish groups against the IS far outnumber those who may have joined the extremist group.

Last December Sulaimani courts ordered the release of a man from prison after it was proved that he had traveled to Syria to join the YPG.

According to Haydar Hamarasheed, head of the Halabja branch of the Lawyers Syndicate, this means that Kurdistan authorities do not recognize the European and US law that list the PKK as a terrorist organization.

“These youth have committed no crime and are not legally held for anything,” said Hamarasheed.

Residents of Halabja criticize Kurdish media outlets for the “unfair coverage of their town,” saying the media only pays attention to the few who have joined Islamist groups and ignore the “fact that many Halabjans are defending Kurdish land.”

“We are not pleased with the media who deliberately tarnish the image of Halabja,” said Dlawar Abdulrahim, a civil rights activist in Halabja.

According to data from the mayor's office, 3,000 Halabja men and women are in the ranks of the Peshmerga, security and police forces and 230 are currently on the volunteer wait list.

Abu Bakir Omar, a lawyer in Halabja said that the mayor’s office will prosecute any media outlet that publishes false information about Halabja youth joining the IS.

Officials said that eight Halabja men have been killed so far in the fight against Islamist militants and several others injured.

Rasheed Ahmed known as Mama Rasha, a veteran Peshmerga commander from Halabja was killed in Jalawla last week and Rebin Ali, a young Peshmerga, also a native of Halabja, was killed in Gwer earlier this month.