Back وحدات حماية المرأة Arabic Qadın Müdafiə Birlikləri Azerbaijani নারী সুরক্ষা ইউনিট Bengali/Bangla Unitats de Protecció de les Dones Catalan یەکەکانی پاراستنی ژنان CKB Ženské obranné jednotky Czech Frauenverteidigungseinheiten German Yewiya Cêniyeseveknayışi DIQ Γυναικείες Μονάδες Προστασίας Greek Protektaj Taĉmentoj de la Virinoj Esperanto
| Women's Protection Units | |
|---|---|
| Kurdish: Yekîneyên Parastina Jin (YPJ) Arabic: وحدات حماية المرأة | |
 Flag of the YPJ | |
| Active | April 2013–present |
| Allegiance |  Kurdish Supreme Committee (2013)[1] Rojava (2013–present)[2] Democratic Union Party (2013–present) |
| Branch | Female service units |
| Type | Light infantry (militia) |
| Size | 24,000 (2017 estimate) |
| Part of | Syrian Democratic Forces (since 2015) |
| Motto(s) | "Know yourself, protect yourself"[3] |
| Engagements | Syrian civil war |
| Website | https://ypjrojava.net/ |
| Commanders | |
| General Commander[3] | Nesrin Abdullah |
| Kobanî commander[4] | Meryem Kobanî |
| Aleppo commander[5] | Sewsen Bîrhat |
| Leading commander for Raqqa operations[6][7] | Rojda Felat |
The Women's Protection Units[a] or Women's Defense Units is an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war.[9] The YPJ is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the armed forces of Rojava, and is closely affiliated with the male-led YPG.[10] While the YPJ is mainly made up of Kurds, it also includes women from other ethnic groups in Northern Syria.[11]
- ^ "Armed Kurds Surround Syrian Security Forces in Qamishli". Rudaw. 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ "PYD announces surprise interim government in Syria's Kurdish regions". Rudaw. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ a b "Syrian Kurds' morale high but arms needed, YPJ commander". ANSAMed. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ^ "Interview with YPJ Commander in Kobane and Mishtenur Hill". 17 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "Aleppo: New Group of YPG/YPJ Fighters Graduated from Training Course". YPG Rojava. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
- ^ Moritz Baumstieger (9 November 2016). "Profil – Rojda Felat. Kommandeurin der Offensive gegen den IS in Raqqa und Bismarck-Fan. [Profile – Rojda Felat. Commander of the offensive against the IS in Raqqa and Bismarck-Fan]". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ "Wrath of Euphrates Operations Room, commandant Rojda Felat, Northern Raqqa". YPG. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ "#YPJ Female Fighters Shaking #ISIL... – The Lions Of Rojava". facebook.com. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
- ^ Başer, Çağlayan (2022). "Women Insurgents, Rebel Organization Structure, and Sustaining the Rebellion: The Case of the Kurdistan Workers' Party". Security Studies. 31 (3): 381–416. doi:10.1080/09636412.2022.2097889. ISSN 0963-6412. S2CID 250577246. Archived from the original on 2023-08-01. Alt URL
- ^ de Jong, Alex (2016). "A Commune in Rojava?". New Politics. 15 (4).
- ^ Tax, Meredith (2016). A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State. Bellevue Literary Press. ISBN 978-1-942658-10-8.
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