ISIS Captures Canadian Female ‘Recruit’ to Kurds in Syria
A Canadian citizen may have been captured by extremist forces in Syria. The Canadian government is in the process of confirming the report.
A number of Islamist websites, some of which are serving Islamic State, reported on Sunday that Gill Rosenberg had been captured by ISIS warriors. The websites claimed that the 31-year-old had been taken into custody during Islamic States' fierce battles against Kurdish forces. Rosenberg earlier posted on Facebook that her page would not be updated since she was heading for a place where there would be no internet, Jerusalem Post reported. She wrote on November 20 that "someone else" would handle her Facebook account as there would be no internet access for the next couple of weeks. She is supposed to be back online on December 8. However, it was unclear where she left for during the period.
Update: A Facebook user claiming to be Rosenberg asked peopel to ignore capturing reports. She wrote that she was totally "safe and secure." She apparently cannot access Facebook as she's not carrying any device to access internet for her "safety and security." Whether the post is actually from Rosenberg or not is yet to be verified.
The Israeli-Canadian was apparently captured soon after. The websites, on the other hand, did not provide any further details about the capture. There was no detail given regarding the capture as well. There is no evidence to support the capture either. Such reports of the capture of Rosenberg were doubted over by Kurds when approached by Eran Cicorel, an Israel Radio reporter. The argument against the capture is that the main battle between Kurds and Islamic State is taking place in Kobani, a town in the Syria-Turkey border. According to the Kurdish sources, Rosenberg was not there in Kobani so it would not be likely that she had been captured, they argued. The Kurdish sources also claim that the news of the capture may be a ISIS propaganda.
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, however, did not confirm the capture of the Israeli-Canadian. "I cannot confirm that and I hope that it isn't true," CBC News quoted him. Rosenberg apparently claimed earlier that she had been in Syria in November. Kurdish forces too confirmed that the 31-year-old was their first female foreign recruit. It was also said that she had gone to Syria to be a part of the battle against Islamic State extremists. While there were several messages on Rosenberg's Facebook profile. One of the messages asked about joining the Kurdish forces.
Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au