| 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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