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He now sat on the porch steps of a house on Koawaya’s edge, a few dozen yards from an Israeli patrol, holding a rusty AK-47 and looking grim as his eyes scanned the sky for an Israeli drone buzzing above.

In 2006, Allen was part of a balaclava-wearing gang toting guns including an AK-47 assault rifle who threatened to kill staff at the Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.

But he had to think of his daughter: In his mind were dozens of videos feverishly circulated among villagers, depicting what was said to be pro-government fighters lining up residents and executing them with an AK-47 bullet to the head.

When he opened it, they placed the AK-47 on his chest and asked him for his name.

At the entrance to Kobane, women in their 50s, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, guard the checkpoints.