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Female Kurdish fighter whose picture became a web hit 'killed by Isis'
Image of 'Rehana' making a peace sign was retweeted thousands of times
Now there are claims that she has been captured and beheaded by Isis
She reportedly fought for the Kurdish Women's Defence Unit or YPJ
It's thought she was involved in the defence of Syrian border town Kobane

Published: 09:29 GMT, 27 October 2014 | Updated: 12:21 GMT, 27 October 2014

A female Kurdish fighter who became a poster girl for the Kobane resistance movement after a picture of her making a peace sign was retweeted thousands of times on Twitter has reportedly been beheaded by Isis.

The woman, known by the pseudonym Rehana, was celebrated as a symbol of hope for the embattled Syrian border town after a journalist tweeted a picture of her making a 'V-sign', claiming that she'd personally killed 100 Isis militants.

The message was retweeted over 5,000 times, but there are now claims Rehana, who fought for the Kurdish YPJ, or Women's Defense Unit, may have been killed after gruesome pictures began circulating on Twitter of an Isis fighter purportedly holding aloft her head.

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Her death - reported on several sites including 9News.com - however, is unconfirmed and at the time of writing the YPG (People's Defense Unit) and YPJ have yet to respond to MailOnline's request for a comment.

Perched on the other side of the Turkish border, the Syrian town of Kobane has been under an intense assault by Isis, or the so-called Islamic State, for more than a month. The town - surrounded on the east, south and west by Isis - is being defended by Kurdish forces in Syria.

Among those fighters are thousands of women, an unusual phenomenon in the Muslim world in which warfare is often associated with manhood.

In April, Kurdish fighters created all-female combat units that have grown to include more than 10,000 women.

Isis launched a ferocious assault on Kobane in mid-September. Picture is an explosion from an allied air-strike on Sunday

Brave: Thousands of Kurdish women are fighting Isis in Syria

Explosions in Kobane as US airstrikes continue

These female fighters have played a major role in battles against IS, said Nasser Haj Mansour, a defense official in Syria's Kurdish region.

The Kurdish women now find themselves battling militants preaching an extreme form of Islam dictating that women only leave the house if absolutely necessary.

One Kurdish female fighter, who uses the nom de guerre of Afshin Kobani, used to be a teacher.

Now, the Kurdish Syrian woman has traded the classroom for the front lines in the battle for the town.

A Kurdish Peshmerga female fighter takes up a position during combat skills training before being deployed to fight Isis militants

The 28-year-old Kurdish fighter said she decided to join the fight in her hometown when she saw Isis advances in Syria.

'I lost many friends to this, and I decided there was a need to join up,' said Kobani, who declined to reveal her birth name. 'This is our land - our own - and if we don't do it, who else will?'

After more than a year of fighting, Kobani has risen through the ranks to become a commander of a mixed-gender unit. 'We are just the same as men; there's no difference,' she said. 'We can do any type of job, including armed mobilization.'

There is nothing new about Kurdish women fighters. They have fought alongside men for years in a guerrilla war against Turkey, seeking an independent Kurdistan which would encompass parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Earlier this month the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors events in Syria, reported Isis militants beheaded nine Kurdish fighters, including three women

The campaign for Kurdish independence has been pursued mainly by leftist militant groups that championed gender equality, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party in Turkey.

Suicide bombings have long been part of the Kurdish women fighters' battleground repertory.

Early this month, Deilar Kanj Khamis, better known by her military name Arin Mirkan, blew herself up outside Kobani, killing 10 IS fighters, according to Kurdish forces.

Haj Mansour, the Kurdish defense official, recounted that Kurdish fighters were forced to withdraw from a strategic hill south of the besieged town. Khamis stayed behind, attacking IS fighters with gunfire and grenades as they moved in.

Surrounded, she detonated explosives strapped to her body. The Kurds then recaptured the position - but lost it again on Wednesday.

Earlier this month the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors events in Syria, reported Isis militants beheaded nine Kurdish fighters, including three women, captured in clashes near Turkish border.