YPG Fighters

The Kurdish popular militia, also known as YPG, arose with the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 and the subsequent irruption and threat of the Islamic State. The YPG, committed to defend the Kurdish settlements in northeastern Syria, had been defeated on several occasions until February 2015, when they could resist the attacks perpetrated by the jihadist in Kobane. Backed by an international coalition offering them air support, the Kurdish militia in Syria has managed to revert the situation. Nowadays, the militia has more territory under control than ever; feeding the long-standing desire to reunite the existing Kurdish settlements spread across several countries and declare Kurdistan's independence. Despite lacking any official record, it is estimated that about 40 million Kurds have spread out in four countries: Turkey (Bakhur in Kurdish) with 20 million, Irak (Bashur) with 6 million, Syria (Rojava) with 4 million and, finally, Iran (Rojalat) with 10 million. As a whole, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world with no State of their own.