Kurds Fight Islamic State to Claim a Piece of Syria
A Kurdish paramilitary group will help the U.S. expel Islamic militants in exchange for a stretch of northern Syria to build its vision of utopia
RAS AL-AIN, Syria—A billboard of a 19-year-old Kurdish fighter brandishing a machine gun covers part of a bullet-marked building that once housed Syrian government offices. The building is abandoned and its officials long gone.
Both secular and al Qaeda-linked rebel groups fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were also chased out more than a year ago.