New fighters of Shingal´s Resistance Force (YBS). January 14, 2016
New volunteers join Shingal´s Resistance Forces (YBS). January 14, 2016

Shingal – Around 25 more Yezidis joined Shingal´s Resistance Forces (YBS) today after completing their military training. On Mount Shingal, the YBS recruits took their oath and thus officially joined the fighting force.

Next to Ezidxan´s Protection Force (HPE), the YBS constitutes the second Yezidi military force that has been established since the genocide against the Yezidis by the Islamic State in Shingal. The YBS´s establishment was initiated by the Kurdish People´s Protection Units (YPG) which went to the rescue of the Yezidis in Shingal as thousands of Peshmerga soldiers of the Kurdish regional government had hastily abandoned the region. YBS volunteers are in most cases trained by experienced YPG/PKK commanders who also provide the military equipmment. The women´s bataillon of the YBS calls itself Ezidxan´s Women Units (formerly YPJ-Shingal) and has several hundred fighters.

YBS members have been fighting alongside the YPG and PKK on the frontline in Shingal and played a major role in the recapture of the recently liberated town Shingal as well as villages in the west of the region.  The number of YBS fighters is estimated at around 2,000. The YBS call for self-administration for Yezidis in their settlement area Shingal and are close to the PKK.

ezidiPress