Kurds plead for help in ISIS fight

Kurdish civilians have given up jobs as teachers and farmers and picked up weapons to try and stop the advance of ISIS in northern Syria. Though ISIS was driven out of Kobani with help from the U.S. and others, Kurdish fighters nearby are holding the frontline with second-hand weapons.

ISIS fighters are just four miles from Kurdish positions in Jazaa, Syria.

Ahmad Mohammed was a farmer, but now he's a patrol commander for a group of Kurdish fighters in Jazaa, and he has yet to see any U.S. or allied warplanes come to their aid.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

A Kurdish fighter keeps an eye on the horizon, where she knows ISIS militants hold positions just four miles away, in Jazaa, Syria.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Most of the Kurdish fighters holding the frontline in Jazaa, northern Syria, are not trained soldiers, they are local civilians who have taken up arms to defend their towns and villages from ISIS.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

ISIS controls up to one third of Iraq and Syria. Local militia are at the front in the fight against the extremists and have received little aid from the outside world.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

ISIS has taken advantage of the instability brought by Syria's civil war, which has shattered the country since it began in 2011.

Kurdish fighters in the northern town of Jazaa, which has been flattened by ISIS shelling, say the militants may now launch a full-scale attack as they have been pushed out of nearby Kobani.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Though ISIS shelling has flattened Jazaa, in northern Syria, Kurdish militia members say they have not seen a single airstrike against the militants, who are entrenched just four miles away.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Most of the Kurdish fighters holding ISIS at bay are drawn from the local civilian population, including many women.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Kurdish fighters in their bunkers near Jazaa, northern Syria.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Militia members in Jazaa, northern Syria, chant and sing slogans begging their fellow Kurds not to "cry for me" if they are killed defending their homeland against ISIS.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Female Kurdish fighters play a game of chess to pass the time at their position in Jazaa, Syria, just four miles from ISIS territory.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

Kurdish militia say they have had no outside help in their fight against ISIS.

Civilians on the front lines against ISIS

A hilltop bunker manned by Kurdish fighters in the town of Jazaa, northern Syria, about four miles from ISIS positions.