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Canadian woman fighting IS may be near Raqqa

A video released by the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) on Saturday seems to briefly feature a young woman from Alberta, Canada on the front lines fighting against the Islamic State (IS) in Tabqa, Syria.

 

The woman, Shaelynn Jabs, 20, also appeared in a video released a week earlier, introducing her as Dilan Chudi and addressing the camera in Kurmanji, the local Kurdish dialect.

 

The young fighter appeared in the clip armed and dressed in camouflage as shots are heard in the distance.

Jabs explained she is currently in Tabqa, 55 kilometers away from Raqqa, on her second tour with the YPJ since her first six-month trip which began in October 2015.

On Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said they had pushed IS fighters out of the old quarters of Tabqa, a strategically vital town controlling Syria’s largest dam.

The latest video suggests she may have been a part of the advance into the old city of Tabqa.

The YPJ Media Centre released the videos on its YouTube channel. Shaelynn’s last known position was nearly 500 kilometers away, in Sinjar, Iraq.

The recording is likely recent as the Tabqa operations began at the end of March.

Estimates put the Kurdish militia’s international brigade at around 100 volunteers from the US and Europe.

Officials in northern Syria believe 1,500 foreign fighters have retreated inside Raqqa, dozens of whom are British, some of the 850 UK nationals who have traveled to fight in Syria.

The SDF has previously stated it would wait until it seized Tabqa to assault Raqqa, but it had made slow progress since besieging the town in early April.

Author: Karzan Sulaivany    Source: kurdistan

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