Gill Rosenberg, the Canadian-Israeli who volunteered to join the Kurdish militia, on Monday sought to dispel reports that she had been kidnapped by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.
“Guys, I’m totally safe and secure. I don’t have Internet access or any communication devices with me for my safety and security,” Rosenberg wrote on Facebook, calling her friends to “ignore the reports I’ve been captured.”
Reports surfaced on jihadist websites Sunday that ISIS had captured Rosenberg, 31, a former IDF soldier who immigrated to Israel in 2006. She had traveled to Iraq to fight with the Kurds in early November.
But sources in the Kurdish underground in Syria denied Sunday night that Rosenberg had been in the Kobane region, as claimed by the websites.
There has also been no official confirmation from either Israel or Canada to verify reports that Rosenberg was captured by Islamic State terrorists, with both countries saying on Sunday they were monitoring the situation.
It was Kol Yisrael public radio that first reported, earlier in November, that Rosenberg, 31, had joined the Kurdish fighters.
She reportedly made aliyah in 2006 and served in the IDF’s Home Front rescue unit. She was arrested in 2009 and extradited to the U.S., after being charged with taking part in an international scam which tricked American pensioners out of funds totaling $25 million.
Rosenberg was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail, but was released and expelled from the U.S.