Posted on 03/19/2018 9:20:19 PM PDT by BBell
A British woman fighting with a Kurdish armed unit has died in Syria, her father has said.
Anna Campbell, 26, from Lewes, East Sussex, died on March 15 in Afrin while with the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, the YPJ.
It is feared she was killed by Turkish airstrikes.
Ms Campbell - who had dyed her fair hair black so she would not stand out - is the first British woman to have been killed in Syria with the Kurds and the first Briton to be killed in the battle for Afrin.
Seven other Britons have died in the country while fighting alongside the groups.
Ms Campbell's father, Dirk, told the BBC she "wanted to create a better world and she would do everything in her power to do that".
He added: "I told her of course that she was putting her life in danger, which she knew full well she was doing. I feel I should have done more to persuade her to come back, but she was completely adamant."
The YPJ is an all-female brigade of the Kurdish People's Protection Units YPG, which has around 50,000 Kurdish men and women fighting against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) in northern Syria.
The group has been defending the Kurdish-majority city of Afrin from Turkish forces backed by Syrian rebels after they launched an offensive in mid-January.
Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group, an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has led an insurgency in Turkey for decades.
Ms Campbell had been qualified plumber living in Bristol before she left to join the Kurdish militia in Syria.
Her friends and commanders are thought to have tried to dissuade her from going, saying it was too dangerous.
He said his daughter was an "incredibly principled, brave, determined, committed
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Anna Campbell was with the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, the YPJ CREDIT: YPJ
Anna Campbell, centre, with YPJ fighters stationed in northern Syria CREDIT: YPJ
A most admirable young woman. Some women have that urge to seek out and confront danger in the same way as some men do.
We need our Joan of Arcs when they naturally occur and knowingly commit to the cause.
RIP.
What an altruist. She had no business in that sovereign nation!! You play with fire , you get burned.
More of that “You go girl” BS. She wasted her life, and would have done far far more to make the world a better place by creating a family and raising decent children.
I wish the US could offer more support to the Kurds when they ask for it. They are now disappointed in Pres. Trump for not providing more support to keep ISIS at bay.
Perhaps there was no way to be sure the support was going to and staying with the right group of rebels.
These people fight for their own sake, to go home in peace, unlike Lebanese Hezbollah which is now cannon fodder for Iran and Putin fighting in Syria... in exchange for which Assad has been massacring Christian Lebanese.
What are Lebanese doing in Syria? Why is Assad bombing Christians in Lebanon?
I do not not want to hear about Putinists telling me the Russians protect Christians and Jurds, as Putinnis backing Turk terrorists in Afrin.
* do not not want to hear about Putinists telling me the Russians protect Christians and Kurds, as Putin is backing Turk terrorists in Afrin.
British terrorist fighting alongside PKK/PYD killed in Afrin
Deep admiration here. She was fighting with the good guys in the mess that is going on.
A soverieng nation which allows Lebanese Hezbollah to fight for them?
A sovereign nation which allows Russians to take part in the figting?
A soverieng nation which is rulled by Iran to use the Alawites as cannon fodder to attack Israel?
Or are we talking about the post colonial empire of Syria’s Assad which bombs Lebanese Christians not aligned with traitor Aoun?
“” “” Putinnis backing Turk terrorists in Afrin.”” “”
LOL. Hypocritical neocon spins doesn’t require common sense at all. Does it?
Whose ally Turkey is? Russia or US? Isn’t it a major NATO participant?
If you are not with the Turks you are a terrorist.
When fighting islamic terrorism as a minority in England, I think we can go pass the battle of questions about whether a woman should stay at home or not.
She found common cause with the Kurds and she is ahead of her time in establishing alliances and droping differences and pointless squabbles when defeating a majority islamic enemy becomes number one priority for all people.
So kurdish PKK should not be allowed to challenge the sovereignty of Syria, Iraq, Turkey.....and Iran.
Go ask the YPJ. It is a fact zputin is backing Turkey killing Kurds in Afrin.
Anything not cannon fodder for Putin or Iran in their war against the US or Israel (eg Lebanese Hexbollah) gets stabbed in the back.
Chauvinist!!!!! I have to agree. It would have been nice if she popped some kids out first.
You let your daughter go into combat ?!
Almost as dumbass as the US military .
The latest Tweets from New York City Antifa (@ NYCAntifa). ... #AfrinNotAlone #Anarchist comrade #AnnaCampbell fallen in #Afrin defending the # Rojava revolution from the attack by the Turkish army: ...
Syria challenges the soveriengntynof Kurds by allowing Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran.
It is called open border imperialism.
There is nothing respecting soverieng representation in terrorist Assadian Syria.
Even his own people the Alawites are used as cannon fodder by Iran.
Alawites were open to peace talk wi Kurds and do not want to fight anymore.
This is Assad and Russia using these people , ie. Turkey and ISIS to put Alawaites against the wall and destroy another soverieng population, the Kurds.
Syria was an imperial colonial fiction in the first place, one colonizing, Kurds, Alawites and Suni divided..
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