Article content continued

Several Israeli media picked up on the account, but so far no confirmation has been provided.

Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that it was following up on the reports about Ms. Rosenberg, who is from White Rock, B.C. However, a department spokesman did not confirm that she had been captured.

“Canada is pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and officials are in close contact with local authorities,” said Nicolas Doire. “[Foreign Affairs] advises against all travel to Syria and Iraq because of the extremely volatile security situation and Canada’s limited ability to provide assistance to its citizens there, and have done so for several years. Furthermore, we advise that Canadians in these countries should leave.”

Through social media, a spokesperson for the People’s Protection Units, commonly known as the YPG, denied that Ms. Rosenberg had been captured, noting that journalists had lied about her and that “she is safe.”

Further, experts in the region noted several incongruities in the Islamist claims.

“So far, the story seems to be not true,” said Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst for the Jamestown Foundation. “The fact is that [Ms.] Rosenberg is not in Kobani, she did not go to Turkey [from which you can enter Kobani].”

Mr. van Wilgenburg said that if she had been captured, it would have been near the fighting in the border region of Serikaniye, or Ras al-Ain.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

“But according to the YPG she is alive and well. So I really doubt this is the case. Maybe she has no access to Internet now, so she cannot reply.”