Solsticewitch13's BOS: The female teacher who has become a sniper fighting ISIS on the Syrian front line… and has to share her rifle with farmers and housewives

Thursday, February 5, 2015

The female teacher who has become a sniper fighting ISIS on the Syrian front line… and has to share her rifle with farmers and housewives

Denis Sipan, a former teacher, joined the fight in Syria five months ago
The group is so under-equipped the sniper is forced to share her rifle
She fights with local volunteers: farmers, housewives and shop owners
Last week, ISIS fighters admitted they had been defeated in Kobane
Kurdish forces advanced yesterday, retaking 50 villages near the city

Published: 09:04 GMT, 5 February 2015 | Updated: 13:09 GMT, 5 February 2015

A Kurdish primary school teacher has spoken of how she quit her job to fight ISIS on the frontline near Kobane in Syria.

Denis Sipan left her school in the Syrian part of Kurdistan five months ago to join the a rebel enclave of the Kurdish People's Protection Units(YPG) as a sniper.

The Kurdish forces made fresh advances yesterday near Kobane, where ISIS surrendered last week, bringing the number of recaptured villages to 50,

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Hero: Denis Sipan left her job as a primary school teacher to become a sniper on the frontline

'If we didn't do it, the whole place will be full of ISIS, and they'll destroy everything,' Denis Sipan told CBS News.

When asked what it would take for her to give up fighting and go back to teaching, Ms Sipan replied: 'I don't think that's going to happen.

'I need to protect myself, my friends, my people, and my country.'

She also revealed that although the YPG and rebel groups are making advances against ISIS, they are woefully under-equipped and she is forced to share her rifle with another sniper.

Ms Sipan fights alongside local volunteers, a group made up of wheat-farmers, housewives and shop owners, using weapons they have bought on the black market.

Frontline: Ms Sipan now fights for Kurdish forces as a sniper, trying to hold off and push back ISIS

Making moves: Kurdish forces made fresh advances yesterday near Kobane bringing the number of recaptured villages to 50

Fighting on: The rebels are so under-equipped that Ms Sipan has to share her rifle with another fighter

Kurds take to the streets in Turkey to celebrate Kobane victory

Last night, The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the YPG, backed by rebel fighters such as Ms Sipan, 'are continuing to advance in the countryside of Kobane, facing no resistance from the ISIS'.

'As soon as the YPG enters into a village, the IS withdraws its fighters,' Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

After nearly five months of fighting for Kobane, which is strategically located in Kurdish Syria on the border to Tyrkey, the YPG recaptured the town last Monday.

Battles then broke out for the 350 villages surrounding the town, out of which 50 have been reclaimed by the Kurdish forces

Motley crew: The rebel group Ms Sipan is part of is made up of volunteers from the local towns and villages, comprising housewives, teachers, farmers and shopkeepers

One win: After nearly five months of fighting for Kobane, Kurdish forces recaptured the town last Monday

Final blow: Airstrikes by the US-led coalition were the main reason why extremists were forced to withdraw from the town, according to two of the group's fighters

'The number of villages reclaimed by the YPG... has risen to 50,' the Britain-based group said.

The YPG's advances come amid fresh US-led coalition air strikes against IS positions around Kobane.

According to the Pentagon, coalition warplanes carried out 11 strikes against IS positions in the area from Tuesday to Wednesday morning.

The Observatory says 10 IS militants have been killed in fighting around Kobane since the Kurds reclaimed the town.