Danish woman, 22, who dropped out of college to fight ISIS in Iraq

Joanna Palani became famous worldwide when she declared she was leaving Denmark and heading to the Middle East to fight the terrorist group.

The 22-year-old, of Kurdish descent, is one of many Westerners to join the fight against ISIS in the Syrian city of Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab.

Syrian Kurds in the city, assisted by Iraqi Peshmerga troops and US and Arab coalition warplanes, eventually forced hundreds of militants out of the centre of the city.

On one of her Facebook posts, she published a photograph of herself smiling while wearing military fatigues, a bulletproof vest and carrying a large assault rifle - threatening ISIS militants with the words: 'See you on the front-line tomorrow'.

With the city now being rebuilt, she returned to Denmark for a brief respite from war - but had her passport seized by police and the Danish intelligence service PET.

She said: 'They have forbidden me from leaving Denmark. That puts me in the dilemma that I cannot continue my service down there as a soldier.'

Palani has lived in Denmark since she arrived in the country as a refugee aged three and wrote on Facebook that she cannot understand why Danish officials are punishing her under new so-called 'foreign fighter' rules intended to stop Danes from joining terror groups.

She said: 'How can I pose a threat to Denmark and other countries by being a soldier in an official army that Denmark trains and supports directly in the fight against the Islamic State?'

Minister of Justice Soren Pind told Danish national daily newspaper Berlingske over the weekend that Denmark's foreign fighter law is 'very clear' but suggested that Palani could challenge the decision in court.

Palani meanwhile has said she will appeal.

In an interview last year she said: 'I love Denmark. I grew up here and I love the freedom of our society. 

'If Denmark should ever be attacked, I will go to the front-line with a Danish flag around my shoulders. 

'But I have Kurdish family, and right now it is the Kurds who are being attacked by brainwashed Islamists.'

(dailymail.co.uk)