Kurdish Militia Embraces Women Fighters in Battle Against ISIS

“Meet America’s newest de facto allies in its coalition against ISIS,” CNN’s Ivan Watson reported Sunday evening on CNN International.

Watson was referring to the group of uniformed soldiers behind him, a Kurdish militia known as the “YPG.”

“Within the last week, the U.S., for the very first time, began dropping assistance to YPG fighters defending the Syrian town of Kobani against ISIS militants. U.S. air power has also been striking ISIS militants that have been laying siege to that town to support this faction,” Watson reported.

Watson reports that the relationship between the U.S. and YPG is controversial, because they YPG is aligned with the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, a United States NATO ally. The U.S. also labels the PKK a terrorist organization.

“But now, the enemy of an enemy makes this group the U.S.’s friends in the battle against ISIS,” Watson reported.

Among the groups of fighters with the YPG, many women can be seen marching and taking part in military drills.

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