The northern Syrian border town of Kobani weighs heavily on the hearts of Kurdish people from northeastern Syria. Hymns, poems, and tales of great bravery and sacrifice all resonate from the brutal urban combat that occurred there between YPG/YPJ fighters and so-called Islamic State forces in 2014, when the Takfiri movement was at its height of power and control. It was the bloody struggle for Kobani that kindled the fire of Kurdish identity that finds itself today still fighting for survival against Turkish and local forces alike.
YPG
Book Review: Desert Sniper by Ed Nash
Desert Sniper follows British citizen turned YPG/SDF foreign fighter volunteer through his experiences fighting with the SDF in Syria during 2015-2016. Ed was motivated by his desire to go and fight an enemy that none of the world seemed to care too much about fighting, which at that was the so-called Islamic State. Once he got into northeastern land mass in Syria known as Rojava, he actually became a sniper for the SDF, supporting SDF infantrymen in such campaigns as Hasaka, Shidaddi, and finally in Minbij where he ended his service in Syria.