Sources in the Kurdish underground in Syria denied Sunday night that Canadian-Israeli Gill Rosenberg, 31, had been in the Kobane region, as claimed by Islamist and Palestinian websites that reported she was captured by ISIS during the fighting in that area. The report about Rosenberg's capture has not been confirmed by ISIS.
An American who is fighting in the ranks of the Kurds told Voice of Israel that Rosenberg was not in the Kobane region. “She was never in Kobane, that's not reasonable that she was captured,” he said. The head of the station's foreign news desk, Eran Sikorel, said that he, too, had information that Rosenberg had been stationed in eastern Syria and not in the Kobane region, which is in central Syria.
Yisrael Hayom quotes a senior Kurdish source who confirmed that Rosenberg joined the Kurdish resistance in Syria and said she was the first western woman to join its fighters. The source added that ten other western citizens who are not of Kurdish origin have also joined the Kurdish fighters in recent days.
Earlier on Sunday, the monitoring group SITE said Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists claimed a "female Zionist soldier" had been captured in the embattled Syrian border town.
Some jihadists said the woman might be Rosenberg, who had served in the Israel Defense Forces and had volunteered to fight with the Kurds, the monitoring group said.
"The Government of Canada is aware of reports that a Canadian citizen was kidnapped in Syria," a foreign ministry statement said, according to AFP.
"Canada is pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and officials are in close contact with local authorities," added the statement.
Israel, too, said it was following reports about Rosenberg.