'Attacked from two sides'

DW: Is the fighting around you in Kobani continuing uninterrupted, despite the American airstrikes?

Asia Abdullah Osman: Currently there is a lot of heavy fighting, and we are being attacked from two sides. The greatest danger comes from the mountains in front of Kobani, because the IS militias deploy their tanks and missiles from there to attack the city. IS has concentrated all its military might in Kobani. The IS fighters receive supplies from Raqqa and other Syrian cities that are under its control. It is true that American airstrikes have hit a few key IS bases, but the battles go on anyway.

Is Kobani completely without ground troops to defend it?

We've been fighting the IS militants for a year. But in the last three weeks that fighting has been particularly fierce, because IS has strengthened its attacks. We only have light weapons. How are we supposed to fight against tanks and rockets? For four days straight we've been fighting non-stop. But we're not giving up. We will go on as long as ISIS is still there. Thousands of civilians are still in Kobani and if we don't defend them they will be executed. We urgently need outside help: the international community has to destroy IS' heavy weapons. We want the same help the fighters who are combating IS in Iraq are getting.

Are you weapons and munitions running out?

No, not yet. We get supplies. Many people say that Kobani will fall, that Kobani cannot stand. But we will continue to fight. We will use all the means that we have so that we can protect people from a massacre. Because we cannot match the heavy weapons IS has, because we cannot destroy IS' tanks with our weapons, our fighters must now sacrifice themselves in suicide attacks - like that young female fighter did three days ago.

How many civilians are currently still in Kobani? Is it possible to evacuate them?

There are still thousands of people here who have fled their villages, which were overrun by IS fighters. I can't give you an exact number, we're at war, no one can count all the people. Many of them are grabbing the remaining weapons to defend themselves.

Is there enough food and water for the civilians?

The humanitarian situation is very bad. We haven't had running water or electricity since March. The utilities are in the parts of the city controlled by IS. We just have a few wells. Medical care is also very bad. We haven't yet received any humanitarian aid from the international community. We are trying to evacuate women and children and the elderly. But many people ask themselves: where should we go? Turkey isn't allowing many refugees over the border. Because of that many people have decided to stay here in Kobani.

Have they also taken up weapons?

War rules here in Kobani. The IS militants don't discriminate between fighters and civilians, they kill everyone. Women are particularly in danger. The Kurdish female fighters would rather shoot themselves than end up in the hands of IS. We have to defend ourselves and defend our people. That is our duty.

The women's rights activist Asia Abdullah Osman Asia is one of the founding members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the largest Kurdish party in Syria. Since 2001 she has been co-chairperson of the party together with Salih Muslim.