Syria
YPJ fighters Canda Cudi, Servin Serdar, and Nucan Ocalan, were killed in a drone attack in Manbij on September 15, 2023. Photo: Handout
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Luxembourg Foreign Ministry on Monday said that the Minister Jean Asselborn is saddened by the recent death of three Kurdish female fighters in the vicinity of Syria’s Manbij city by a suspected Turkish drone attack.
Candan Cudi, Servin Serdar and Nucan Ocalan from the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were killed when their vehicle was hit by a drone near Manbij city on Friday. The YPJ blamed Turkey for the air strike.
The Luxembourg Foreign Ministry said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Asselborn “deeply regrets” the killing of the three Kurdish fighters, adding that he had met with Serdar in 2016 “to express support in the common battle against the Islamic State [ISIS].”
Luxembourg is a member of the US-led global coalition against ISIS.
The YPJ is the all-women wing of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) - the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
SDF is the main ally of the coalition against ISIS on the ground in northeast Syria (Rojava).
Turkey has not immediately commented on the drone attack.
Turkey considers the YPG to be the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Peoples’ Party (PKK) - an armed group struggling for increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara. Turkey has carried out three military operations against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria since 2016, invading key towns near the border such as Afrin, Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad).
YPJ said in a statement that Serdar was born in Dirbesiye in 1981. She had joined the PKK when she was only 17.
She was a member of the YPJ military leadership and a member of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council, according to the statement.
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