Kurdish fighters thwarted a bid by Islamic State group jihadists to advance into the centre of the battleground Syrian town of Kobane early on Saturday, a monitoring group said.
The assault on Kobani indicates that Islamic State is turning its attention back to Syria. The Kurdish enclave has long been a thorn in the side of the jihadis; the Kurdish-controlled area interrupts kobane news the jihadis' territorial contiguity, separating Tel Abyad from Jarabulus and making a large detour necessary from Islamic State's capital in Raqqa city to the important border town of Jarabulus.
But it is doing little to aid the Kurds. This in turn invites the question of whether Turkey sees the Kurds as a greater threat than the jihadists, who stand to grab their third border crossing with Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to suggest that IS and the PKK were equally dangerous It is wrong to view them differently, we need to deal to them jointly,” he told reporters Oct. 3 in Istanbul. Erdogan's comments hold the key to understanding Turkey's policy on Kobani.
Yesterday guns and explosions could be heard from across the border. Kurdish fighters repulsed a pre-dawn attack by Isis forces and still controlled the town's border crossing with Turkey, a vital supply and exit route. It is not clear how long the Kurds can hold on, with some 40% of the town in the hands of the jihadists. The United States has said airstrikes alone may not be enough to save Kobane.
Critics have accused Turkey of helping militants. The Turkish government had diplomatic and political negotiations ” with ISIS to free 46 Turkish hostages , and according to critics, has long ignored that its border had become ISIS's preferred method of entering or exiting Syria. A Turkish news channel showed live video feed from the Kobane border Wednesday, claiming that it showed ISIS fighters entering the city from Turkey. International Business Times could not independently verify the video.
Damascus has faced repeated criticism for its use of barrel bombs — improvised explosive devices that have little accuracy and can cause widespread devastation. We are horrified by the reports that the Assad regime barrel bombed the Abedin displaced persons camp in Idlib and the images we saw of the carnage against innocent civilians,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
One official said that while the results of the mission are still being assessed, it appeared that the vast majority” of the supplies reached the intended Kurdish fighters. That official also said the C-130s encountered no resistance from the ground in Syria during their flights in and out of Syrian airspace. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
On October 29, John Allen, the retired U.S. general tasked by President Barack Obama with overseeing the anti-ISIS campaign, told Al Arabiya News Channel we don't think Kobane is about to fall in the hands of ISIS, the entrance of Peshmerga fighters will prevent that”2. One day later, Financial Times reported the ten peshmerga fighters who entered Kobani were an advance group of kobane news military experts who will plan the deployment of the remaining troops”. The same newspaper said it is not clear how effective the 150-man force will be in the street battles raging in the besieged city”, and the peshmerga units will mainly provide artillery cover for lightly armed local fighters in the hope it can help them push back Isis, which holds about half of Kobani”3.
Reports emerged that one fighter, Arin Mirkan, 20, a mother of two, had detonated a grenade against Isis in a suicide mission after she ran out of ammunition. There are women fighters here. How can I go? As a man I feel shameful leaving, even though I have no weapons,” said Rami. Rami's family have found refuge with cousins in an empty building in the bleak village of Suzan, 30 miles inside the Turkish border. They are the lucky ones.
KARAAGAC: I think it is mostly about the Kurds. The U.S. is more concerned with the Assad regime, maybe, you know, particularly in the future, because fundamental U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East right now is to corner Iran, to isolate Iran. If Assad is gone, then Hezbollah will be in a lot of trouble. And if Hezbollah is also in trouble, Iran might be even more isolated.
But it is doing little to aid the Kurds. This in turn invites the question of whether Turkey sees the Kurds as a greater threat than the jihadists, who stand to grab their third border crossing with Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared to suggest that IS and the PKK were equally dangerous It is wrong to view them differently, we need to deal to them jointly,” he told reporters Oct. 3 in Istanbul. Erdogan's comments hold the key to understanding Turkey's policy on Kobani.
Yesterday guns and explosions could be heard from across the border. Kurdish fighters repulsed a pre-dawn attack by Isis forces and still controlled the town's border crossing with Turkey, a vital supply and exit route. It is not clear how long the Kurds can hold on, with some 40% of the town in the hands of the jihadists. The United States has said airstrikes alone may not be enough to save Kobane.
Critics have accused Turkey of helping militants. The Turkish government had diplomatic and political negotiations ” with ISIS to free 46 Turkish hostages , and according to critics, has long ignored that its border had become ISIS's preferred method of entering or exiting Syria. A Turkish news channel showed live video feed from the Kobane border Wednesday, claiming that it showed ISIS fighters entering the city from Turkey. International Business Times could not independently verify the video.
Damascus has faced repeated criticism for its use of barrel bombs — improvised explosive devices that have little accuracy and can cause widespread devastation. We are horrified by the reports that the Assad regime barrel bombed the Abedin displaced persons camp in Idlib and the images we saw of the carnage against innocent civilians,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
One official said that while the results of the mission are still being assessed, it appeared that the vast majority” of the supplies reached the intended Kurdish fighters. That official also said the C-130s encountered no resistance from the ground in Syria during their flights in and out of Syrian airspace. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
On October 29, John Allen, the retired U.S. general tasked by President Barack Obama with overseeing the anti-ISIS campaign, told Al Arabiya News Channel we don't think Kobane is about to fall in the hands of ISIS, the entrance of Peshmerga fighters will prevent that”2. One day later, Financial Times reported the ten peshmerga fighters who entered Kobani were an advance group of kobane news military experts who will plan the deployment of the remaining troops”. The same newspaper said it is not clear how effective the 150-man force will be in the street battles raging in the besieged city”, and the peshmerga units will mainly provide artillery cover for lightly armed local fighters in the hope it can help them push back Isis, which holds about half of Kobani”3.
Long before the battle for Kobanê was under media spotlight, the CWI highlighted the need for building everywhere in the region democratically-run, non-sectarian bodies as the basis for organising a mass popular defence not only against IS, but also against any other religious extremist groups, against the brutal and sectarian forces of the Syrian and Iraqi regimes, and against imperialist intervention - the latter being largely responsible for the growth of the jihadist gangs now assaulting Kobanê.
The subsequent picture remains shrouded in ambiguity, as Turkey officially denies any relationship with Islamic State. But the release of 49 Turkish hostages by the terror movement this week under unclear circumstances has once more cast a spotlight on the possible complex connection between the two. Yet the clash itself offers a broader lesson regarding the shape of things to come, in the ethnic/sectarian war now raging across what was once Iraq and Syria.
The arrival of the first Peshmerga comes a day after a group of Syrian Arab rebels entered the town also to fight against IS, aided by US-led coalition air strikes. Another two air strikes by US forces damaged 
The Executive Council of the UK Fire Brigade's Union (FBU) has also issued a statement calling for international trade union solidarity and support for the defenders of Kobane”. Air strikes have also been launched in parts of neighboring Iraq, where ISIS is rapidly making inroads into the Anbar province, and is reportedly advancing on a town just 25 miles from the capital Baghdad.