A Canadian woman has become the first foreign female to join the Kurds battling the Islamic State in Syria, a  report has revealed. Gill Rosenberg, 31, was interviewed on Israel Radio where she said she had traveled to Iraq, was training with Kurdish guerrillas and would go into combat in neighboring Syria. The station did not name their interviewee, who spoke North American-accented Hebrew, but a source involved in the report identified her as Rosenberg. Gill Rosenberg, 31, was interviewed on Israel Radio where she said she had traveled to Iraq, was training with Kurdish guerrillas and would go into combat in next-door Syria . 'They (the Kurds) are our brothers. They are good people. They love life, a lot like us, really,' Rosenberg said, . explaining why she joined up after contacting the guerrillas . over the Internet. Rosenberg, a civil aviation pilot, enlisted in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrested in 2009. She was then extradited to the United States where she was jailed over an international phone scam, one of her former lawyers said. A source in the Kurdistan region with knowledge of the issue . said Rosenberg was the first foreign woman to join YPG, the . Kurds' dominant fighting force in northern Syria. She has . crossed into Syria and is one of around 10 Westerners recruited . by YPG, the source added. Syrian Kurds backed by fighters from northern Iraq have gained ground towards breaking the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobane. But they are drawing heavy fire from Islamic State insurgents and have yet to win back control. Rosenberg could not be reached by Reuters for comment. A . source provided an Iraqi Kurdistan cellphone number for her, but . it was turned off on Tuesday. A Facebook page registered to Rosenberg showed photographs . of her in settings marked as Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria. Gill, a civil aviation pilot, enlisted in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrestedin 2009 and extradited to the United States where she jailed over aninternational phone scam . 'In the IDF (Israeli army), we say 'aharai', After Me. Let's . show ISIS (Islamic State) what that means,' read a November 9 post. Yahel Ben-Oved, an Israeli lawyer who represented Rosenberg . in the US criminal proceedings, said she had no knowledge of . her joining the Kurds even though they had spoken recently. 'It is . exactly the sort of thing she would do, though,' said Ben-Oved. Rosenberg had consented to extradition and served around . three years in a U.S. prison under a plea bargain, Ben-Oved . said. A 2009 FBI statement on the case names her as Gillian . Rosenberg, among 11 people arrested in Israel 'in a phony "lottery prize" scheme that targeted victims, mostly elderly'. Female fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) prepare their weapons in the southern countryside of Ras al-Ain, near the frontline against ISIS . Israel's NRG news site reported at the time that Rosenberg . turned to crime after running short on money, that she was . estranged from her parents and had tried in vain to join the . Mossad spy service. More than 195,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011, with successive attempts at internationally backed negotiations failing to yield a peace deal. Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and . business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the . minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries. Smoke rises over the border town of Kobane in northern Syria following US airstrikes on Tuesday. Rosenberg is believed to have crossed into Syria and is one of around 10 Westerners recruited by the Kurds . The Kurds are spread through Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. In the latter country, the have the autonomous Kurdish Regional . Government. Israel bans its citizens from traveling to enemy states, . among them Syria and Iraq. It has been cracking down on Israeli . Arabs who return after volunteering to fight with Islamic State . or other rebels against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Canada similarly worries about its citizens fighting in . Syria. Israeli and Canadian officials said they were aware of . Rosenberg's case, but did not immediately elaborate on what if . any efforts were being made to return her.
Gill Rosenberg said she went to Iraq and is training with Kurdish guerrillas .
On Israel Radio, the 31-year-old said she would go into combat in  Syria .
She enlisted in Israeli army search-and-rescue unit but was arrested in 2009 .
Rosenberg was extradited to US and jailed over an international phone scam .
Her former lawyer said joining Kurds is 'exactly sort of thing she would do'
A Canadian woman has become the first foreign female to join the Kurds battling the Islamic State in Syria, a  report has revealed. Gill Rosenberg, 31, was interviewed on Israel Radio where she said she had traveled to Iraq, was training with Kurdish guerrillas and would go into combat in neighboring Syria. The station did not name their interviewee, who spoke North American-accented Hebrew, but a source involved in the report identified her as Rosenberg. Gill Rosenberg, 31, was interviewed on Israel Radio where she said she had traveled to Iraq, was training with Kurdish guerrillas and would go into combat in next-door Syria . 'They (the Kurds) are our brothers. They are good people. They love life, a lot like us, really,' Rosenberg said, . explaining why she joined up after contacting the guerrillas . over the Internet. Rosenberg, a civil aviation pilot, enlisted in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrested in 2009. She was then extradited to the United States where she was jailed over an international phone scam, one of her former lawyers said. A source in the Kurdistan region with knowledge of the issue . said Rosenberg was the first foreign woman to join YPG, the . Kurds' dominant fighting force in northern Syria. She has . crossed into Syria and is one of around 10 Westerners recruited . by YPG, the source added. Syrian Kurds backed by fighters from northern Iraq have gained ground towards breaking the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobane. But they are drawing heavy fire from Islamic State insurgents and have yet to win back control. Rosenberg could not be reached by Reuters for comment. A . source provided an Iraqi Kurdistan cellphone number for her, but . it was turned off on Tuesday. A Facebook page registered to Rosenberg showed photographs . of her in settings marked as Kurdish areas of Iraq and Syria. Gill, a civil aviation pilot, enlisted in an Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrestedin 2009 and extradited to the United States where she jailed over aninternational phone scam . 'In the IDF (Israeli army), we say 'aharai', After Me. Let's . show ISIS (Islamic State) what that means,' read a November 9 post. Yahel Ben-Oved, an Israeli lawyer who represented Rosenberg . in the US criminal proceedings, said she had no knowledge of . her joining the Kurds even though they had spoken recently. 'It is . exactly the sort of thing she would do, though,' said Ben-Oved. Rosenberg had consented to extradition and served around . three years in a U.S. prison under a plea bargain, Ben-Oved . said. A 2009 FBI statement on the case names her as Gillian . Rosenberg, among 11 people arrested in Israel 'in a phony "lottery prize" scheme that targeted victims, mostly elderly'. Female fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) prepare their weapons in the southern countryside of Ras al-Ain, near the frontline against ISIS . Israel's NRG news site reported at the time that Rosenberg . turned to crime after running short on money, that she was . estranged from her parents and had tried in vain to join the . Mossad spy service. More than 195,000 people have been killed in Syria since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011, with successive attempts at internationally backed negotiations failing to yield a peace deal. Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and . business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the . minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries. Smoke rises over the border town of Kobane in northern Syria following US airstrikes on Tuesday. Rosenberg is believed to have crossed into Syria and is one of around 10 Westerners recruited by the Kurds . The Kurds are spread through Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. In the latter country, the have the autonomous Kurdish Regional . Government. Israel bans its citizens from traveling to enemy states, . among them Syria and Iraq. It has been cracking down on Israeli . Arabs who return after volunteering to fight with Islamic State . or other rebels against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Canada similarly worries about its citizens fighting in . Syria. Israeli and Canadian officials said they were aware of . Rosenberg's case, but did not immediately elaborate on what if . any efforts were being made to return her.
Rosenberg, 31, was interviewed on Israel Radio training with Kurdish guerrillas and would go where she said she had traveled to Iraq, was into combat in next-door Syria . 'They (the Israeli army search-and-rescue unit before being arrested in 2009. She was then extradited to the United States where she was jailed over an international phone scam, one of her former exactly the sort of thing she would do, though,'