US Airdrops Weapons, Supplies

John Cantlie, the British hostage being held by the Islamic State, has appeared in a mock news report claiming to be from inside Kobane, saying the battle is "coming to an end". The film includes "drone shots" of what is said to be the beleaguered city. There are signs that the fighting has begun to slow down and that Isis elements to the east of the city have been pulled back - but this is just a reprieve for the Kurdish forces. There is no doubt that Isis is mounting further attacks against these key border towns. Burned into her mind is an image she saw online of a 16-year-old boy who was crucified for rape. She questioned her inclusion in a group capable of such violence. Women and children were said to be among scores of Albu Nimr tribespeople executed over the past 10 days in western Iraq's Anbar province. Reports of the killings came with the country on edge as hundreds of thousands of Shiites prepare to travel to shrine city Karbala this week for a major annual pilgrimage. The executions in Anbar came after Sunni Albu Nimr tribesmen took up arms against IS in the province, large parts of which have been overrun by the jihadists. I support all that, Jim, but in reality, no resolution will now make any difference to Kobane, especially considering the shameful slowness of our politicians. Either the heroes of Kobane will succeed or they will fail on their own, and it could kobane news be over any day, or any hour. All that could possibly save them now is massive round the clock A-10 airstrikes and possibly ammo drops. We'll take it as given that Turkey will continue to cruelly sit by and hope ISIS wipe out the Kurds. Now: After an initial attack on June 5, ISIS insurgents have now positioned themselves just miles away from Samarra. It is unclear whether they are capable of capturing the city in the coming days, but the Shiite shrine makes it kobane news a volatile target. Kobani has been besieged by Islamic State for more than a month, and only air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition and the deployment of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters have kept the hardline Sunni group at bay. The "Islamic State" offensive on Kobani and nearby Syrian villages has killed more than 800 people, according to activists, and caused more than 200,000 people to flee into Turkey. The militant group has conquered broad stretches of land in Iraq and Syria and has brutalized both Muslims and religious minorities in the areas it occupies. Other youngsters from Kobani who have managed to flee across the frontier into Turkey are coping as best they can.

At least 400 people have been killed during three weeks of fighting between Isis and Kurdish fighters in and around Kobani. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group in London said it had documented 412 deaths from kobane news sources on the ground, but the real figure was likely double that. Mona Mahmood (@monamood) has been speaking by phone to Sulien Tamou, student at the college of medicine in Aleppo. She fled Kobani with her family to Turkey. The Kurds have held off Islamic State's militants with the help of a US-led bombing campaign and airdrops of weapons and other supplies. While the air strikes destroyed all of Islamic State's tanks in Kobane, they failed to cut off supply lines and the group has brought a new tank in from the east, Mr Sariyildiz said. The arrival of Iraqi Kurds through Turkey to help protect Kobane in Syria is a major political event in a conflict that has spread violence across the region. However, the YPG Kurdish militia have held their ground and even advanced slightly in the central area around the municipal buildings, the Haj Rashad mosque and the Al-Hal Market. Fierce fighting is ongoing, with IS launching at least 17 mortar shells into the area on Sunday and sending in yet another car-bomb. Former U.S. Commander Lt. General Mark Hertling (Ret.) says it is tough for him to watch what is unfolding in Iraq. When Kobani first came under attack several days ago, American officials said the fight for the town was not part of the coalition's strategic campaign to weaken the Islamic State by attacking its oil refineries, headquarters and arms depots in Syria — all a part of the militant group's ability to sustain its fight in neighboring Iraq. American officials appealed in vain for Turkey to deploy its sizable force just across the border to help.