Rojava: Syria's Unknown War

today's funeral shade Colonel or yet again soldier was killed by a sis and another the people will bring in here they make a celebrity you know like a weeding his bride is caught this time losing our land he died for his honor Oh to protect his family so they are proud of him because if they protect these people they protect by their blood by their own body this area to make the other people live in peace you know all the families have all the tribes to grown up with moss is inaudible trading cattle for the past few decades against Turks it's over now against the jihadists maybe now if this war continued more than this you will find people from Iran from Turkey problem understand crossing the border doesn't matter for them if they get shot by the soldier of the system there they were going to here been driving around through southeast Turkey now it's so close to the border you can actually see Syria between us and Syria this Rose checkpoints are a few hundred meters lines barbed wire this board is closed foreigners we've got to point this in smugglers promised to take us across hopefully not through a minefield Northy Syria is one of the most complex and underreported front in the entire Syrian war Kurdish fighters affiliated with the PKK have used its integration in Syria to carve out an autonomous state net in the country's northeast Syria's Kurdish Heartland and turkeys really not happy about it in an effort to blockade the Kurdish areas the region the Kurds called rojava or sunset the Turkish government closed the border crossings to international trade as well as to journalists while Turkey offers free access to rebel-held areas of Syria it doesn't want any journalists to enter a Java leaving us with no option but to cross the border illegally dodging Turkish army patrols risking arrest in court after a couple of hours a trek across country a couple of close shaves with the tape Charlotte patrols going past us we're in we're in Syrian Kurdistan raus the world I've come to meet kovanda Raj a Kurdish activists from Aleppo now living as a refugee in Northeast Syria the regime had withdrawn for most of Rajavi a year earlier Kovan is keen to show me how the local Kurdish forces were capable of filling the security vacuum as you can see the US is controlling this checkpoint as is called the police so these people they are trying to protect this city the sheriff can first a notification the women joining this fifty-fifty you know as a man hears these no differences between Arabs of course or Christian or something like that you know what do the Arabs in rajala think about the idea of a java there is two differences between olives because you had a original tribe who were here and you have 90 63 Arabs you Jim bring them they took land the Cordish land and who give them you know so these differences you know how did the fighting begin here in RO chaga I mean it was peaceful really first it's still peaceful you know some people they want to make it like ethnic war they were kidnapping the Cordish civilian who not involved with the Apogee's force and they want to make it like coach against the Arabs and they couldn't do it so this war they want to control the oil field in the raw Java and it's ruled jihadists yes all of them jihad is connecting to al-qaeda Kasich parodied ever know how long she be hip hurrah - in this position she's ready to kill herself for the people inside and he made some warm car you know come to hear it explode so as you can see she's ready to do everything hey art was killed on duty a few weeks later while predominantly Kurdish rajaiah is an ethic the mixed region of Syria a significant Arab Muslim and the Syrian and Syria Christian minorities Syria's Arab Sunni majority mostly backed the revolution while Christians in the rest of Syria fearful of jihadist elements among the rebels increasingly throwing the weight behind the Alawite LED Assad regime it's Syrian Kurdistan however a fragile ethnic balance still exists Christian parties and their militias are working with a dominant Kurdish PYD party to keep the jihadist out the jihadist positions are only a few miles away from Derick on the horizon he passed plumes of smoke from oil wells set alight by retreating jihadist fighters Syrian Kurdistan contains around 60 percent of Syria's oil reserves a potential treasure trove for whoever controls it the Kurds were keen to show me how well their new state could provide security for all its inhabitants it invites me to meet the assess my list preparing for their nightly patrols of the city it's come to this building it's the Center for the Asajj there's some local militia the police force and volunteers hopefully we're going out and patrol them tonight thus securing the city checking everything's okay and Derick it's going to go in Patrol yeah cool let's do it how long have you been doing this it's been ten months helping to keep my country my city clean from all people who try to destroy our way of life it's almost like you're fighting a war to keep away the war yeah so you don't become like the rest of Syria you know understand it's not about Kurdistan like I am I'm Christian and I'm here fighting with the Kurdish people we are here to stay we will not allow those people to come here and ruin our life the jihadists are they Syrians as well there is Syrians between them there is from all over the world from széchenyi cerdanya from Al Saudi they all come here and try to fight us I don't know why it's not even their land they took my body and they cut off his head when they deliver us the body they put one head on the other body and the other head on the other body I don't know why why would someone do that they are terrorists they think this way they will terrorize us but you will we are not afraid I'm not afraid sorry my friend I'm sorry to the central fronts in this war was the disputed border city of rasa lane which the Kurds called Sarah carnea a few miles outside the city were flagged down by a YPG checkpoint jihadist fighters had captured the next two villages ahead cutting the road Mahajan with a ribbon are describing Nicola Branagh double bed hot Peshawar Joseph Abdullah scream any mad food AHA analysis questions after would any 50/50 Ravi on when Jordan by double Ravi on whoever done mala like much shoot on them Oh Bonhoeffer Danny homework honey feels choked happen when the Harlequin di when the Araucaria Walker chicken Granada body korean korean a curriculum any indeed burger with the double when you do that what a horrid matter money want eaten missin does you want e to the W bitter ones we want Christian with reachable Kenny Hodges the energy seeks to on to any malicious turns Absalom obtained sick a smaller house it usable at a circus mobile when Jordan by double Revilla Georgia my negative my Roderick Masonic okay so they've got tanks the new fighting with rifles RPGs even a homemade type the body they sticky that was like a any video Mexico much tink devoted their crazy to drive something like their line all along the rasa lay in front Kurdish and our villagers sit side by side these quiet farming communities were now the front line in the war between the YPG and their rebel enemies you slept out for overnight we were gonna go to the frontline it's so can you slap ten kilometers down there it's a border crossing Turkey it's a very strategic point but between us Sarah Konya is an Arab population age that started fighting against the Kurdish forces here that blocks our route yeah I love you we've gone out of 130 no dusty mauve Arabic or deny Georgia region afraid to coordinate button there what was Oliver wasn't a fabrication turkey do your civic reality ever get a get a hot a cosmological enemy was there a haka Voltaggio similar to kalila me Reba concern yes you know his green fields over there that's turkey Turkey so close both sides are facing into the border crossing just a few kilometers down there that's what's brought the war this tiny sleepy village we followed one of the vices the nearby village of Nader the closest YPG position to our look it was an eerie scene driving through a landscape deserted farm stairs and empty fields just come there both tanks they brought a tempest artificial on the crop and go on you stink gotta trust with a couple more than any Jimmy Jimmy you may review okay shall they get up let's get out probably because of the tank its formed here and they threw everything outside see I just just love you from huh sugarstar vision yes maybe it is snipers just pass here that's no man that that's the yes this is the red line yeah the red line yeah let's have a sit in the front line we went to meet the commander in his village was watching TV what a few days before they've been the farmers living room Chuck's we didn't let the stood in it look like an Australian vegetable market ever see could a sonic Democrat never check it in any student a Democrat or how can I can see the not heaven you could oh yeah atta boy in hecka see head wood filler person one can turn on the John Beckett over have it the enemy did they fight well are they well trained Oh 50 going shows you Danny now I won't be another word remember changing it and be no additional usually give me Jimmy are a we just removing that I believe that we will get to ellis starts we're just drinking tea having cigarettes and we had a few rifle shots the Kurdish fighters here they think they've seen movement from the enemy side just a few hundred meters away and their fields over there so they're gonna check out what's going on it's what the war looks like here small groups of men in villages local men fighting we will stay here because they don't tell us to go further from here for our own safety Oh started so some modern guess water so the sort of movement from the enemy side least off a few rounds of it and alottoni to go away they're expecting an assault from which your hardest over there worried that they'll send some ice towards us so details to go the jihadist forces began to more to the village and the YPG ordered us to leave they said for our own safety frustratingly the YPG tightly restrict foreign media access to the front lines making it difficult to get a clear picture of the fighting it was clear that jihadist fighters were social of push forward or probing deeper into YPG territory and attempt to surround proceeded rasa Lane this stretch of quiet farmland is now the most active front and it's almost unreported walk so it's altered away from the frontline village when the enemy started motoring us the YPG fight back with clash clubs which is all they've got so they leave a seat or didn't want us there for our own safety and also I think for their own information security to be pulled back to this checkpoint so nearest checkpoint to the front these guides here guarding the road they've set up a dish go heavy machine gun pointing down the road prevent any enemy forces coming this way so we'll see what happens don't you sure this is your element of Oz well thank you he also them see guru the web our the cookie jar under sharp shahru such a big zo not easy as you want is one kimchi group group beginning bitch again Rodman Pullman Porter to chill Rodham on my monkey she grew red sock why would she go either with me uh that was cool good for you well gentlemen gesture yes there was no struggle so this better it's American it even says in it 9/11 will never forget they captured it from the jihadist people Cornwall from a little bit all the judges be like everywhere else in the Java most of these vices were local farmers the YPG seemed to use local militias at the first line of defense in these isolated villages with a mobile reserve of elite troops ready to respond to any encouragement while the YPG fighters are all locals the Kurdish authorities were keen to impress upon us their belief that they were fighting an army of foreign volunteers with the road to rasa lane too dangerous to travel we drove back to the regional capital of Qamishli while the Kurds hold the city's outskirts regime forces still control the city centre evidence the rebels claim of a tacit alliance between the two we just drove through the regime held area of central Qamishli it still control like maybe you've blocked the city centre and the border gate with turkey rody Halil the YPG chief spokesman wanted to show as evidence and foreign fighters in the Java so these are passports from dead foreign fighters from Libya Tunisia Iraq Bahrain the YPG there yep ago they see themselves as on the front line at the battle against global jihadism so who are the enemy who are the efika fighting no Honka rubadoux's Minh Hemi his Achilles Gary ego bozidar bossy boss Jerry Cordova group English Gilligan ha time material here Peggy Ann Marie Gilley courts are taken yech Japan Australia DeLaughter islamia Yurakucho me go even harder Justine al-qaida Donna delicate even islami Yun radical angry die one Hanna legal vana ji hun deck group in Greedo Artesia Assad chicken and una hora de liquor latigo garage in the harem incordata pneumonia live another regime Alberta a very hot on a gala cousin Harriman Khadija like a dog we can share a mannequin very one go t see yourself in the future the epica working with the FSA against nusrah and Qaeda or not an egg salad emoji are not universal certain the ugly map d'Italia Reda the vulgar extinct ago dare the Cavanaugh or K mini Harry Mason is Bush Russia Saudi group in Islam Ian Roger Chaldean Java Thomas Rob table top Erik Rioja virgin take away we are doing Google now on the server as soon as we left the interview you ran into a vast funeral cortege for two fighters had been killed in battle with a jihadist these funerals were now an everyday occurrence in rajaiah the city park had been converted into a martyred cemetery it was already almost fully jump I'm hoping that is right the funeral of two martyrs to Shahid's were killed fighting the jihadist strange atmosphere the family of obviously distraught crying as the bodies being taken to the streets but it's a celebratory atmosphere here as well they're being celebrated as martyrs who died glorious death by the standards of Aleppo would leave this is a small war but the people of Kurdistan is a tragedy and it's a war that affects every family here - pashka Venice a day Akuma take a French a comedic you crush on Vanessa Anne Burrell are you getting a code GREEN America when our solutions are not Maddalena I'm correct on that Ivan really thirsty we are coronary embellishment ii in there Arnie Nate I need Melanie we shall never wash all across Syria like in every creation otherwise Sunnis precious cuts all sides all sets burying that dad mourning their martyrs I don't see how Syria can continue to exist will rebuild itself if the country at once was they are not my friend status head is my friend huh that's his mom I can't look at the Pez you know just imagine yeah that's different they were farmer you know techie may have closed the border to journalists and aid organizations but according to the YPG it isn't closed to everyone all the epic eight fighters we've met so far said that Turkey is helping their enemies helping the jihadis to jump out on this row and this yep ago fighter says he can show me where the Turks have cut the barbed wire separating Turkey and Syria allowing the jihadis to filter in behind yep again positions I was in my slot next don't whoop you on like a year hold on I'm Davide mr. Wiggins again I'm never second chef Kamini on one television a team and Dermott Seattle pseudo Hadrian showmanship vodka kitten previous version you see there the wire how height is it yeah here nothing you know yeah and for four kilometers in the same day that they fight in a log they took all of this away any Gilligan buddy Sheila would another point Shh lady would go honey any group Allah has delivered Alaskan swollen I look miss Eva Human Rights Watch in the US government have since criticized Turkish government's willingness to let your hardest groups cross the border unhindered use Turkish territory as their main supply base al Qaeda now controls all the open border crossings between Turkey and northern Syria the rebel capture of a Luke and Schaffer threatened to place rasa Lane under siege again by exposing the only Road to the city to sniper and machine-gun fire monitor people rowdy how are the wings can't hurt him is that up with more money what's in her I'm not gonna tell and have either idiot hello bitch let's head I'm a hard-ass awesome that's what so we're bombing it down a road basically the snipers with large-caliber weapon sniping at all the vehicles going passed down here is constant water and heavy machine-gun fire we're going as fast as we can as we get to the relative safety of the frontline the YPG at any recaptured rattle a couple of months earlier after month bitter fighting against both the relatively secular FSA and jihadist groups with a city under threat once again security was tight so look I'm here see you control the whole system sander our production everything which is it hello from Taliban and commander mullah omar that mallanna is the commander with telomeres so you think i afghan to fight yes if you notice the land its destroyed with total chillin everything is destroyed here rocket came there and destroyed everything you see heavy clashes will happen to this building what was that early was the mole of the government as they write down they were they were Shoshanna sham Church enter sure session of Damascus rasa lane sit someone of syria's main border crossing to Turkey which before the war had made it a prosperous city with a mixed population of Arabs Kurds Christians and others now the city was deserted my intensive this population had fled after both sides fought to gain control of the vital supply route from Turkey here is question here yet the heaviest clashes happened here everyone unfortunately they are gone because of this it's really disappointing to see something like that you know like a church was it saying satu by doing it isn't Allah that means all of you you will be killed by the God's will almost all the cities Christians had now fled many to Europe leaving the Christian quarter eerily quiet so we're hitting it frontline YPG I'm not sure exactly how far away the front line is yeah there's only a few hundred meters thank you this is the old board of hosts this is what the Fighting's been about really still see the the Syrian rebel flag painted over it rebels are in control of this place are quite a few months the YPG and you catch the backpack three months ago they're still fighting and controllers strategic point that building there that is essentially the last building in the yep again control the snipers every movement of both side the snipers working well boomer at the laws included let's go buzzing you good name another hair getting Joe coming against you okay for front tella separate are these dead people there did you know you're leaving lucidity take the finality okay you all the Cyril resharper Aki getting this you will find Oh cut above another yeah pin we can machine hey guys let's see what's going on building the bully no thanks I'm five Russell mr. nervous the consolidated energy that was the consolidation hearted a leader goes again what it did Josh heather was hungry chicer Oh No what a mighty because I was a vision so you think that means is any movement from the enemies on this so everyone here think is attacked to helping the jihadist yes pongetti every movement maybe we'll get snipers or the mortars or the tank to the YPG inspire taking shots at the enemy they saw some movement on the enemy side of the line no I was waiting waiting Kenny's respond maybe with mortars maybe we start fire see the width please the last store of the width between that and the rich store you know the CLO store there is space between them and the tank is there you can see the head of the tank and on that side I guess they've got a position exactly like this the snipers in this way yes waiting for movement yes pretty close cause of stuff there yeah it looks like World War one or something this is nice trenches on Horizonte each mother keeps our questions with Oliver dogging madman we do lose another man how does it end up with the opposite it's crazy turkey does look to say normal you know like right next door to this I've got like cars driving past you know good together gonna good meeting quite digging in the garden yeah this is the soldier Turkish soldier in this building these people in this garden that's Turkey behind there's a normal Street you can see cars going past normal life here is separated by like a barbed wire fence is the front line of a very very vicious walk absolutely Matt Turner protective rubber concordant up he gave hot according to the audio que pasa we are flying the code is controlling this area sriracha Jetta Conchita ah masala I'm wearing my directive in the verbal you just outside the city women fighters the ypj the female unit the Kurdish forces were stationed in the village facing jihadist forward positions the Kurds claim that women make the best snipers they say they have more patience upon sorry you know Charles a sharvani position taken the gambia pegida and jump al-qaeda sorry that is Ahmed would despicable sana we are the enemy yep aqui resume your personage mmm the spec is I remember yep as you have done good I see now how much you push me on Evod yeah and I'm gonna make everybody how much deep second time you bitches you me a package what kept you we're done about his like asking me to how about this no service they are you know I did together over there Christmas and we know the Campanile division uma and shape up this area far today and Lillard one Monica mm-hmm hey sauce pasta sister by now a YPG counter-attack could retake in a look they're planning to use it as a springboard to recapture all the lost countryside around the vital Road rattling yet again launching an assault disputed village we're heading down south a look you can hear the crackle of heavy machine-gun fire rifle fire this is a look I mean this has been the center of the battle between the yeah burger and the jihadist forces has past few days now even on Twitter like there's sort of a war of words of jihadists say they've got control of a look the epic a so they've got control of a look no and outside really knows for sure but we're here we're in and look that yet baguette clearly have control of it and then launch an assault on to the next village a lot it's quite an eerie feeling haha Choi Ted ever gonna have that better how about a man a skirt a little bit Suki Nene uh Michelle in this unit come on we're in a look at me for the past few days it seemed like this mythical Neverland of constant fighting but as you can see it'll be yet again liberated at least for now push better yeah don't sure is it getting here yes we're going oh but you hear this yeah you heard that yes you hear that yeah we are real going to the real action you know it's action you see the villages open between beef yeah just stay in cover of days we're going yes finally and I think all started soon so you think as soon as it gets dark in the time they attack they clean their throws this is the front of the front it's a few hundred meters of open ground between this village and the village they're fighting still occupied by jihadist forces when dusk falls about an hour and a half an hour these guys are gonna tap that village the hoping they can take it like they took this village just yesterday or the day before yeah I wouldn't do that Joseph or the battle started the YPG commander and the look realized to a journalist hanging around he wasn't pleased he insisted we leave straightaway we can't see end of our time with Java now we've left those trenches but Holda meters behind us it looks like the attack started they made us go away you can hear the heavy machine gun fires they attack the jihadist positions they're going to try and take that village today they took this village just yesterday the day before the whole time we've been here the yep again been trying to take this place everyone we've met has given us a different reason for why the fighting the ordinary farmers we've met say they're fighting to defend their farms defend their homes their land their families Christians we've met see they're trying to preserve this area there used to be a kind of place where people of all religions languages ethnicities mingled coexisted together even here in raghava the place it for the past two years while the rest the country's been torn apart preserved a kind of peace now it's seeing this constant fighting every day new funerals new martyrs it's hard to see how this is going to end you

Channel: VICE

Views: 2,635,221

Rating: 4.6691189 out of 5

Keywords: funny, videos, vice, terrorism, culture, Jihadist rebels, vice presents, vice magazine, vice mag, terror, world, snipers, kurds, vice.com, vice guide, lifestyle, documentaries, zaatari, interviews, umayyad, free syrian army, underground, vice videos, war, vbs.tv, vicevideos, travel, mosque, videographer, funny videos, exclusive, journalism, vice news, syria, Conflict, wild, independent, za'atari refugee camp, osama bin laden, aleppo, rojava, robert king, fsa, interview, Syria, child nurse, x2, documentary

Id: p2zxlFQxkQ4

Length: 36min 12sec (2172 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 02 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/arooney88]

In September of 2013, VICE crossed the border into Syria's Kurdish region to document the YPG's counteroffensive against the jihadists, who had struck deep into rural Hassakeh in an attempt to surround and capture Ras al-Ayn. With unparalleled access to the Kurdish and Syrian Christian fighters on the frontlines, we found ourselves witnessing a bitter and almost unreported conflict within the Syrian war, where the Assad regime is a neutral spectator in a life or death struggle between jihadist-led rebels and Kurdish nationalists, pitting village against village and neighbor against neighbor.

[u/imacarpet]

holy fuck.

Where the hell are Al Queda getting tanks from?