Battle rages in key Syrian town under IS militant attack

SURUC, Turkey: Kurdish militia in Kobane came under renewed assault by the Islamic State group on Monday (Oct 6), as 20 militants were reported killed after entering the key Syrian town for the first time.

IS militants were trying to storm Kobane on the border with Turkey from both east and west of a strategic hill to the south, but Kurdish fighters repelled them, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said at least 20 militants were killed late Sunday when they entered an eastern neighbourhood and were ambushed by Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters. Their assault appeared to be the first time IS fighters had entered Kobane since their advance on it began nearly three weeks ago.

A Syrian Kurdish official inside Kobane said it had come under heavy bombardment. Idris Nahsen could not confirm if IS militants were inside the town, but an AFP photographer reported from the Turkish border that two black IS flags were flying on Monday on Kobane’s eastern side.

IS fighters seized part of Mishtenur Hill, which overlooks Kobane, late on Saturday, but US-led air strikes slowed their advance.

In a sign of mounting desperation, a Kurdish female fighter blew herself up at an IS position east of Kobane on Sunday, the Observatory said.

It was the first reported instance of a female Kurdish fighter employing a tactic often used by the militants, said the Britain-based monitor, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.

SUICIDE BOMBERS

The bomber, in her 20s, was a full-time YPG fighter identified as Dilar Gencxemis, alias Arin Mirkan, from Kurdish-controlled Afrin in northwestern Syria.

“She killed dozens of gang members and demonstrated the YPG fighters’ determined resistance,” her group said in a statement carried by the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency.

On another front, twin IS suicide truck bombings killed at least 30 YPG fighters and security officers on Monday in the Kurdish town of Hasakeh, northeast Syria, the Observatory said.

Sunday’s fighting around Kobane – also known as Ain al-Arab – killed at least 19 Kurdish fighters and 27 IS militants, it added.

The town has become a crucial battleground in the international fight against the militants, who sparked further outrage at the weekend with the release of a video showing the beheading of Briton Alan Henning.

The video – the latest in a series of on-camera beheadings of Western hostages – also included a threat to another hostage, US aid worker Peter Kassig.

His parents have issued a video plea for their son’s release, urging his captors to show mercy towards the 26-year-old former US soldier who has converted to Islam.

They also revealed Kassig had sent them a letter in June. “I am obviously pretty scared to die but the hardest part is not knowing, wondering, hoping and wondering if I should even hope at all,” Kassig wrote.

‘NATO TO PROTECT TURKEY’

IS began advancing on Kobane on Sep 16, seeking to cement its grip over a long stretch of the Syria-Turkey border. The offensive prompted a mass exodus from the area, with some 186,000 people fleeing into Turkey.

The Turkish security forces used tear gas on Monday to push dozens of reporters and Kurdish civilians away from the border zone, which has become increasingly dangerous because of stray mortar fire.

Parliament in Ankara last week authorised the government to join a US-led campaign against IS, but so far no plans for military action have been announced.

The new head of NATO said on Monday it would protect member Turkey against any IS attack. “Turkey is a NATO ally and our main responsibility is to protect the integrity, the borders of Turkey,” said NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

British media, meanwhile, reported that Turkish hostages freed by IS last month may have been released as part of a prisoner exchange for up to 180 militant fighters.

The Times newspaper cited a list it had received saying that among them were three French nationals, two British, two Swedes, two Macedonians, one Swiss and one Belgian.

Extremist Sunni Muslim group IS has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, where it has been accused of carrying out widespread atrocities, including mass executions, abductions, torture and forcing women into slavery.

After first launching strikes against IS in Iraq in August, Washington has built a coalition of allies to wage an air campaign against the group.

In Syria, the coalition carried out anti-IS strikes on Sunday and Monday near Raqa, Deir Ezzor and Kobane, where two militant “fighting positions” were destroyed, said US Central Command.

In Iraq, they also launched three raids, targeting the militants near Fallujah and Ramadi, it said, adding Belgium and Britain took part in the strikes.

According to medics and witnesses, at least 25 IS militants were killed in three overnight air strikes on bases around their northern hub of Mosul.