Syria Kurds mourn Jordan pilot as 'martyr' of Kobane

Syria Kurds mourn Jordan pilot as 'martyr' of Kobane

BEIRUT- Syrian Kurdish fighters in the battleground town of Kobane commemorated Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh as a "martyr" after his brutal execution by their jihadist foes, an activist said Wednesday.

"After the killing of Maaz was announced, troops from the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Kobane and in liberated villages nearby gathered to mourn the pilot's death, and to hold a minute of silence in his honour," Mustafa Ebdi told AFP.

"He is one of Kobane's martyrs - everyone is proud of him," Ebdi said, referring to the slain pilot's participation in the US-led air campaign in Syria, which helped Kurdish fighters liberate the town from the Islamic State group last week.

The YPG's political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), vowed to avenge IS's killing of Kassasbeh and Japanese fellow captives Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa.

The recapture of Kobane "is just the beginning of the defeat of those monsters, so that humanity can be free from them for ever", it said.

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