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Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Father And Daughter Reunited On IS Front Line

A farmer and his 19-year-old daughter did not realise they were fighting Islamic State on different sides of the same town.
 Dad And Daughter Reunited In Kobani
A father and daughter have discovered they are both fighting Islamic State on the front line of the battle for the Syrian border town of Kobani.
Pervin Kobani, 19, is one of many female fighters in the Kurdish army who are battling to fight off the extremist group.
The farmer's daughter took up arms two years ago, signing up with the Syrian Kurdish women's self-defence force, known by its Kurdish acronym YPJ.
They now fight with the men's unit, the YPG.
Pervin Kobani
Pervin Kobani is proud to defend her town
After half a year away from Kobani fighting elsewhere in Syria, she returned two months ago to help keep IS at bay.
She is part of a group of holding an eastern front-line position which is regularly attacked by the militants.
Devastation Inside Kobani
Then, three weeks ago, Pervin bumped into her father, Farouk, on a street corner.
She was surprised to see him holding a gun.
Pervin had no idea her father had also decided to fight. Other family members have now left Syria - her mother is a refugee in Turkey and her brother is studying in Algeria.
  1. Turkish Kurds watch the Syrian town of Kobani from a hill near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
  2. Smoke and flames rise over a hill near the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike
    Gallery: US-Led Airstrikes on Kobani
  3. Smoke and flames rise over a hill near the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike
  4. Smoke and dust rise over Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
  5. An unidentified airplane flies over the Syrian town of Kobani, as seen from the Mursitpinar crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc

  1. Turkish Kurds watch the Syrian town of Kobani from a hill near the Mursitpinar border crossing, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
  2. Smoke and flames rise over a hill near the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike
    Gallery: US-Led Airstrikes on Kobani
"My feeling at that time was very happy," she said.
"Honestly, when I heard my father is fighting on the western front with the YPG I was so proud of him and it made me want to fight more."
Farouk Kobani had joined the town's defenders in September.

  1. TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA-US-KURDS-CONFLICT-KOBANE
  2. An explosion following an air-strike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
    Gallery: Archive: Kurds Celebrate Peshmerga's Kobani Mission
  3. An explosion following an air-strike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
  4. An explosion following an air-strike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
  5. An explosion following an air-strike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
  8. TURKEY-IRAQ-SYRIA-US-KURDS-CONFLICT-KOBANE
  9. An explosion following an air-strike is seen in the Syrian town of Kobani from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc
    Gallery: Archive: Kurds Celebrate Peshmerga's Kobani Mission
After months without news from his daughter, he was delighted to see her. And he had some advice for her.
"I always say to her that, when you get into a fight, just keep your mind on the fighting," he said.
"When the fighting is over, love your friends and Kurdistan with all your heart."
1/10
  1. Syrian Kurds Battle IS To Retain Control Of Kobani
  2. Syrian Kurds in a refugee camp at Suruc, Turkey
    Gallery: Human Cost Of Battle For Kobani
  3. Smoke and flames rise over Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike
  4. Syrian Kurds in a refugee camp at Suruc, Turkey
     
     
  5. Syrian Kurds in a refugee camp at Suruc, Turkey
    Gallery: Human Cost Of Battle For Kobani
Pervin has since returned with a journalist to the western front to see her father again.
She is determined to stay and defend her town.
"All Kobani is important for IS, they want to take the city," she said.
Nov: IS Vow To Seize Kobani
"If we don't defend it well, they will enter. We cannot say they are only in the south. If there is no protection on two fronts, IS will enter the city. But we won't allow the terrorist groups in until the last drop of our blood."
The Kurds and their Free Syrian Army allies, aided by US-led coalition airstrikes, have been defending Kobani since mid-September when IS launched their assault on the town.
But the Kobani battle is a small part of a larger war in Syria which has killed more than 200,000 people in less than four years, according to a monitoring group.
Oct: Kobani Refugees' Hardship
"We have documented the killing of 202,354 people since March 2011," UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Of those killed, more than 130,000 were fighters, the group said.
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