The Stream

Heading to the front lines against ISIL

The Stream discusses why some European Kurds are joining forces with Peshmerga fighters.

While most European governments are focused on the estimated fifteen thousand foreign fighters that have joined Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a few hundred Kurds in the European diaspora have made similar journeys. But they make the trip to fight against the group. The Kurds have managed to secure their self-governing areas from the advance of ISIL in northern Iraq. So who are these Kurdish fighters who choose to go back to the areas they once fled? And what motivates them to take up arms against ISIL? Join the conversation at 1930GMT.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak to: 

Shaho Pirani
Prospective Danish Kurd fighter

Peter Knoope 
Former Director, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism

Alan Abdullah @KRGSweden
Political Secretary, KRG Sweden

Mama Kurda @mama_kurda
British Peshmerga fighter

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