Rojava women take up arms to protect crops from ISIS arson attacks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdish women in northern Syria have formed a military unit to protect farmers' crops from Islamic State (ISIS) arson, the memory of last year's widespread agricultural arson still fresh. 

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have established a unit within the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), called the Community Protection Forces, to take on the mission.

YPJ fighter Rozh stands guard on the Qamishli-Rmelan road in northeastern Syria, known  to Kurds as Rojava.

“We have come to protect our land from fires,” Rozh said.

“Last year there were lots of fires targeted the crops of farmers, and we hope that no fire will target their land this year,” she added.

Remnants of ISIS claimed responsibility for many of the wheat field blazes in both Syria and Iraq. Thousands of acres of wheat and barley fields in both countries were scorched during the harvest season, which runs until mid-June. The group has also claimed responsibility for the torching of crop fields this year across Iraq.

ISIS controlled vast swathes of Iraq and Syria at the height of its power between 2014 and 2016. Though the group was declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and in Syria in March 2019, the group have maintained the ability to carry out insurgent attacks including kidnappings, killings and ambushes, particularly in rural areas as reiterated by a Pentagon report on the group's activities published last month.

“Since our land was set ablaze last year, this year we are ready to defend our lands from fires,” YPJ fighter Samira said on Tuesday.