Italian-Moroccan Volunteer Shares Experience Fighting ISIS in Syria

For Karim Franceschi, barely 29 years old today, the fight against the Islamic State concerns everyone. He joined the city of Kobane in Syria, at the age of 17 and joined the volunteer militia of the "Ypg" (People’s Protection Unit) to fight against the advance of the Islamic State. He fights, he says, for democracy.

He would have become aware of the importance of fighting by taking part in a simple humanitarian caravan. Karim explains to Firenzesettegiorni: "I saw the suffering of the Kurds. That’s when I understood that my role had to be different: to fight against the Islamic State."

Karim knew he risked death but, according to him: "If I hadn’t fought my identity, it would have been compromised forever." He would have had military training of... a few days. Firenzesettegiorni reports his words: "I had a few days of training. In a short time, I went from a simple fighter to a member of a commando, being part of a team of snipers."

The latter also claims that the battle against Daesh does not concern a people because "it is a duty, it is a battle of humanity."

Certainly, he communicates a lot, we could ask questions. But there is an explanation in some of his words: "We must now fight the propaganda of the Islamic State. To do this, we need other means in the name of freedom and democracy."