ISIS- SYRIA-THREAD

[Anthea]

Interview With YPG Commander: ISIS Has Lost In Kobanê

Mehmûd Berxwedan – a member of the General Command of the YPG – has spoken with journalist Ersin Çaksu in a new interview for Özgür Gündem. Berxwedan told Çaksu that all those who said that Kobanê ‘had fallen’ or ‘will fall’ had themselves be defeated, and that if a corridor is opened to the city ISIS will be entirely cleared from the area. Below is the full interview translated into English.

-We would like to thank you for taking some time for us in this very busy period. In the first place I want to ask why Kobanê is so important for ISIS. Why did it attack it with such force?

In our earlier interview we spent a lot of time around the question of why Kobanê was being targeted. The 19th of July Rojava Revolution began in Kobanê. Kobanê became a symbol of resistance and freedom. Kobanê also became an expression of the will of the Kurdish people in Rojava. The revolution began in Kobanê and spread to the rest of Rojava. For this reason Kobanê upset the plans of both certain international powers and certain regional powers who did want the Kurds to express their own will. From that day until now they have expended much effort in breaking and destroying that will. However they did reach their goal. But they have been targeting Kobanê in particular for over a year and a half. So why Kobanê? Because Kobanê has no connection to the other regions. It has no physical connections to either the Cizîrê or Efrîn [cantons]. It is a region surrounded by the [ISIS] gangs. They thought that they could destroy Kobanê by surrounding it. The attacks that have developed for over a year and half were carried out toward this end. However they thought that they could break the will of Kobanê and make it fall very quickly. But they didn’t reach their goal. Finally they released that unless they concentrated all of their strength here they would be unable to reach their goals in Kobanê. For this reason they amassed forces from Derazor, Rakka and as far away as Iraq at the same they were amassing regional forces from Jerablus and Şêxler for this battle. I can say that they brought 70% of their forces to Kobanê.

-So was it only ISIS involved in this plan?

Of course behind this plan were also certain states whose names I do not want to mention – in fact most of them are obvious. The want to break the will of the Kurdish people that has emerged here. If Kobanê falls then also the other cantons which have been established, the will that has emerged, and the YPG which is growing everywhere and which can assume an important role in the Syrian revolution will have been dealt a significant blow. Because this is the group that can play a leadership role and develop along democratic lines. In particular Turkey and many powers supporting ISIS planned these attacks consciously. They wanted to break our will here. They wanted to be successful here. If they are successful here they will target the other regions one by one and they will be able to target Cizîrê and Efrîn. Earlier they wanted to try in Jez’aa, Rabia and Serêkaniyê but they didn’t. Because we have a lot of forces there and they could not suffocate us. But they thought that could surround Kobanê on four sides and break our will here. And this would have been a success for ISIS and its supporters. They wanted to make up for their defeats in Iraq and Cizîrê here. They wanted to boost their morale [by taking] Kobanê. Until now there are two forces that have successfully emerged in Syria. One is us and the other is ISIS. Now it is up to who will defeat who. There are two roads. Either it will be the path of the gangs and of the occupiers or the path of democracy. This is a test. For that reason ISIS amassed all their forces and together with the support of foreign states attacked Kobanê with such strength.

-More than a month has passed in this intense battle. What happened in the course of this month? what weapons did they use against you? What kind of battle has been waged? How have you responded?

Well the fighting that has been going on for over a month here does not resemble other fighting. In terms of its dimensions, its intensity and the form of attack it has been a different battle from the others. They attacked simultaneously and with force from 4 or 5 sides. They operated with offensive and operation forces which they brought from outside. They attacked with the forces they had captured entire cities within hour and brought states to their knees. It was with these forces and techniques that they attacked Kobanê. They came upon with tanks, artillery, mortars and heavy weapons which they captured from Syria, the Free Syrian Army and Iraq. They also used methods such as bombing attacks. Of course they thought it was going to be like Mosul and other regions which they had captured and that they would take Kobanê in just a couple of days. In fact they had planned on a week for Kobanê. The Turks and other powers also gave us about a week. We resisted with small arms against attacks with heavy weapons. Because until now no one has given us any aid.

-When you say no one…

Neither the coalition forces, not any foreign power, nor any other power has provided any kind of weapons.

The PM of the KRG Neçirvan Barzan made a statement he which he said that they had sent us weapons. But no help came from anyone including the government of the KRG. Not weapons can from any state or any Kurdish power. No one can us weapons. We responded to this attack with our own small arms and with things we had prepared using our own resources. We waged a conscious and tactical battle.

-What kind of tactics?

ISIS had planned to destroy the majority of our forces in the villages before they arrived to the city. They were going to finish off our forces in the village and come into the city waving their arms. We developed tactics that took these [plans] into account. There was no village in which we did not fight. We fought in every villages and hamlet and protected them with our existing forces. We suffered losses and we had our martyrs. But generally we preserved our forces. This both prolonged the days of the resistance and allowed us to hit back at ISIS. We took as a basic principle conserving our forces and hitting back at ISIS. We did not allow ISIS, which had planned to destroy most of our forces in the villages within a week, to even enter the city for almost 3 weeks. We planned to put up our real fight in the city. We wanted the turning point to be here.

-Your strategy made it appear as you were losing while really it was ISIS and its supporters.

That is true. We didn’t do what they thought we would. We didn’t gather our forces in the village and let them be destroyed there. We took as a basic principle the preservation of our forces and hitting back at ISIS. We responded to them with very different tactics. However for a period the battle was continuing inside the city. They were assuming, as Erdoğan had said, that Kobanê “had fallen and will fall.” They were assuming that they would be able to perform their Eid prayers in the city. They were going to take the city and perform the prayers. In fact many different states had come to the conclusion that Kobanê would fall. Everyone made this assumption and meanwhile we broke ISIS. A month has passed and we are in the second month. This was an historical resistance. A new legend was written with the blood of the many heroes who fell as martyrs in Kobanê. This legend was formed with the resistance of many of our friends who are fighting now on the fronts. The dreams and hopes of those who said Kobanê had fallen were broken here. Over the last three days they have not been able to advance a single step. Over the last three days we are no longer pulling back and going forward step by step. ISIS is finished. They are tired. They decreased in strength. There power has been destroyed and their operation strength broken. The force which they brought up has also been destroyed. I am saying this without exaggeration. On every street of Kobanê are the corpses of ISIS fighters. Under the rubble of every destroyed house is an ISIS fighter. We have collected hundreds of weapons over the past three days. ISIS has been broken in Kobanê over the past three days. That is during the first month we resisted and carried out tactically. In the second month we are aiming to destroy ISIS in Kobanê. Now we are not only aiming at resistance but at victory.

-Many of the ISIS fighters who were killed are reported to have been quite young and did not yet have beards or long-hair. What does this say?

70% of their offensive and profession forces have died. They still want to bring up some forces located in the area. We can’t know if they will bring more from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan or Azerbaijan. The forces which they brought up before have been diminished. We saw many children into whose hands they had placed weapons. Recently they have been bringing up women in what they call the Women’s units (Ketibe-i Unsa). Now they want to get results by bringing up forces from far away. However the last three days have been a breaking point for their morale, their initiative and their advance. ISIS has understood that it will not be that easy to take large parts of Kobanê. Of course we are not only fighting in the city. We are also fighting outside of the city. There was a great resistance to get to this phase. That is ISIS has understood that its strategy of going and taking any place in 3-4 days will not work in Kobanê. The area around Kobanê is not like the area around Mosul, Iraq and or some other zones in Syria. Kobanê does not resemble some Syrian army base that they can take in 3 days. Neither their truck bombs nor their other weapons were of any use. Of course this city is our city. We know it street by street, avenue by avenue. We know where they are going to come from and where we are going to hit them. Following a month of resistance we are now advancing. Since yesterday we have taken 5-6 neighborhoods from them. In fact on the Western front we are fighting outside the city. This will continue step by step until victory.

-You spoke about the Ketibe-i Unsa. What are they doing and do you know their numbers?

They have brought them up more to carry out bombings. They are given the bloody, dirty work. They are also brought up to increase morale and numbers. They have also been brought up to say “look our women’s units are here.” But until now they haven’t gotten any results from them.

-Recently they have been randomly shelling the city with mortars and artillery and attacking with truck bombs. How does one need to understand this?

If ISIS is blowing up truck bombs somewhere, attacking from a distance with mortars and broadcasting news like “you see we have come and are coming and will come with even great forces” one should know that they have been dealt a serious blow. This is a particularity of theirs. When they cannot do anything they employ all kinds of methods. When they start broadcasting news saying one group has arrived from Rakka, one from Minbic and one group from another place one needs to understand that it ISIS has not gotten results. They are also employing these truck bombs as a form of psychological warfare. Of course we have taken precautions. How many times have they attacked and yet not one of our comrades has even gotten a bloody finger. They are trying to stay on their feet using such methods. Of course by now ISIS is defeated. They did not reach their goals in the time they planned to.Their aims were to take [the city] in a week. But a month has passed and they haven’t taken it. Those who said “Kobanê has fallen and will fall” and their supporters have been defeated. Fundamentally it is they who have lost.

-Mr. Berxwedan, yesterday ISIS targeted a TMO Grain Silo belonging to Turkey with a rocket. Later they hit Turkey with a lot of mortars. What do you think is the goal of all of this?

If we had fired even a single bullet into Turkey, Turkey would have made hell. Their losses are increasing. I do not think that they are consciously targeting Turkey. It’s a rocket. Once you fir it you cannot control it. Mortars are the same. But even if this is how it is when someone’s lands are under attack there needs to be a response. However Turkey has shown no response. They are not asking “why are your mortars hitting our territory?” ISIS would not consciously strike its partner.

-According to you how much of the city does ISIS control? Is the public very concerned about this?

In fact on the western side they are not in the city. To the south they have entered just slightly. Just the last houses, and over there doesn’t really count as part of the city. That is to say those houses are part of the village of Memîdê not the city. To the east they are in the city. That [part] corresponds to about 30-35% of the city.

-Let me ask about the coalition powers airstrikes against ISIS. Is there any coordination between you and the coalition? What is the effect of the airstrikes on the struggle against ISIS?

The truth is that in the first days there was no help. If they had given support in the first days like they have over recent days ISIS would not have reached the city. For the first 15-20 days there was no help from the coalition that had been formed to fight ISIS. But over the past 10 days they have played an important role. They are playing an important role in coordination with the YPG. They are working with great care. Up until now there has been no confusion or mess ups.

-But there are claims that civilians and YPG fighters have been hit by coalition airstrikes?

The claims on certain television [channels] that a civilian has died and some YPG fighters hit is not correct. Until now not a single civilian has died from the planes bombs nor have they hit any YPG fighters. In all of their attacks they have targeted ISIS with great care and high level of coordination. In fact there are no civilians left in areas where ISIS controls and therefore no deaths. Until this day the coalition planes have worked with great care and we can say that they have been successful. And we thank them through you for both their partnership with us and for the great care they have shown. They have struck a great blow against ISIS and this continues.

-So it is possible to push ISIS out of Kobanê with only airstrikes?

Up until a certain point there are advances of airstrikes. They have dealt them a severe blow. But the force that will get the real results are our land forces. We have been saying this from the beginning. If the coalition which has been formed against ISIS wants to break them they need to provide weapons to those fighting on the ground. And the force fighting on the ground is the YPG and YPJ. This possibility needs to be developed. It should be made possible for fighters to come to us from outside. Turkey is not allowing this. Right now we are encircled. An formal route needs to be opened to those youth who want to come and join the struggle. Weapons and ammunition should come through this route. It is us who are already struggling. And we are not doing it wrong. There are also some groups from the Free Syrian Army that are operating with us. We declared the Burkan el-Firat. That joint operations center are still with us. They have lost around 10 fighters. This is a potential. There is thus a common force of Arabs and Kurds. However no one is helping us. The coalition needs to consider this. They they not done for us what they have done for the Peshmerga in South Kurdistan. In the South when air operations began they also provided heavy weapons. For that reason there have been advances. We will continue to resist with our own forces but if one really wants ISIS to be defeated then they need to do this. This is one of the conditions to defeating ISIS. A route needs to be opened. Pressure needs to be put on Turkey to open a formal corridor.

-Is there a date by which you can say you will have pushed ISIS out of Kobanê?

We are not going to give any dates but victory is close. Now we have passed onto a new phase. We are going to weaken ISIS with different steps and tactics and we will break them. Kobanê does not resemble other places. In the same way that they want to break our will in Kobanê we will have our greatest success here. We will proclaim real freedom here.

-We want to ask about the resistance which was started along the border by the people of the North. They have been on guard since the beginning. What kind of effect did this action have?

When the attacks first started here 3-4 months ago our people of North Kurdistan in particular have made a great sacrifice. They have not only increased our morale but provided us with support. Many Northern youths climbed over fences and crossed borders to come to Kobanê and join the resistance. They have actually joined the struggle. But more recently the entire people of the North showed an even greater resistance. The actions in East and South Kurdistan and in Europe were also a big boost in morale. They also showed us that we were not alone. The whole of Kurdistan once again showed that they are behind us. In truth this also increased our responsibility. We thank everyone who gave support. Once more we bow with respect before those who were martyred in the North and Rojhilat (East) during the actions of our people. We consider them to have resisted and been martyred in Kobanê. We consider them to be martyrs of the Kobanê resistance. We thank everyone who supported us once more and affirm that these resistances need to continue. Every youth of North Kurdistan should actively participate in the Kobanê resistance. The youth of Kobanê should also return and take responsibility for their land. In particular the youth of Kobanê should do everything to return to their lands and defend Kobanê.

-Is there anything else you would like to add?

Let know one imagine that we will abandon Kobanê. We will never, never back away from Kobanê. Let the world fall and let not one of us remain we will not abandon Kobanê.

http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/ ... in-kobane/

[Anthea]

ISIS reinforcement left Sarrin towards Kobani

Unconfirmed but probably true

[Anthea]

Reuters
By Sylvia Westall

Islamic State flying three jets in Syria

Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time the militant group had taken to the air.

The group, which has seized swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report and U.S. Central Command said it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria.

U.S-led forces are bombing Islamic State bases in Syria and Iraq. The group has regularly used weaponry captured from the Syrian and Iraqi armies and has overrun several military bases but, if the report is confirmed, this would be the first time it has been able to pilot warplanes.

"They have trainers, Iraqi officers who were pilots before for (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein," Abdulrahman said.

"People saw the flights, they went up many times from the airport and they are flying in the skies outside the airport and coming back," he said, citing witnesses in northern Aleppo province near the base, which is 70 km (45 miles) south of the Turkish border.

Witnesses reported the flights were at a low altitude and only lasted five to 10 minutes before landing, the Observatory said. It was not possible to reach the Syrian government for comment and state media did not mention the report.

It was not clear whether the jets were equipped with weaponry or whether the pilots could fly longer distances in the planes, which witnesses said appeared to be MiG 21 or MiG 23 models captured from the Syrian military.

U.S. MILITARY KEEPING "CLOSE EYE"

"We're not aware of ISIL conducting any flight operations in Syria or elsewhere," U.S. Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder said, using a former name for Islamic State.

"We continue to keep a close eye on (Islamic State) activity in Syria and Iraq and will continue to conduct strikes against their equipment, facilities, fighters and centers of gravity, wherever they may be."

General Lloyd Austin, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, said he could not confirm that Iraqi pilots had joined Islamic State.

"We don’t have any operational reporting of ISIL flying jets in support of ISIL activity on the ground and so I cannot confirm that. And to the degree that pilots may have defected and joined the ranks of ISIL, I don’t have any information on that either," he told a Pentagon news briefing.

Pro-Islamic State Twitter accounts have previously posted pictures of captured jets in other parts of Syria but the aircraft appeared unusable, according to political analysts and diplomats.

The countryside east of Aleppo city is one of the main bases of Islamic State in Syria. The al Qaeda offshoot controls up to a third of the territory of Syria, whose civil war pitting various rebel groups against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has raged for more than three years.

(Additional reporting by Oliver Holmes in Beirut and Phil Stewart and David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Gareth Jones)

[Anthea]

Why the lack of post you might wonder

Simple answer: I try only to post truthful and genuine articles on here

Past couple of days so much conflicting information coming out it is had to know what to believe

I know that the Kurds were gaining ground in Kobani - and for a time they actually had the Islamic State on the run from much of Kobani

However the Islamic Sate appears to be bringing in reinforcements

The coalition forces seem unable - or in the case of Turkey - unwilling to prevent this from happening

The mock-up map below fails to show the large numbers of IS fighters to the west and south of Kobani



The fact is that Kobani is now a very a small dot on the map - surrounded buy a vast number of once Kurdish towns and villages that are now in the hands of the Islamic State - God alone knows what happened to all the thousands of Kurds who once lived in the surrounding area

Kobani is akin to a small island in an enormous ocean - without a safe corridor into Turkey it is an island without boats any boats

The waves of IS are lapping at it's shores and Kobani desperately needs supplies to build up defences and prevent an IS tsunami from washing over it

Kobani has become the focal point of Kurdish attention - a beacon - on it's very survival rests hopes of the Kurdish nation - Kobani has awoken Kurds to the fact that they should all work together - the worldwide protests have bought all the different Kurdish factions together - Kurds now have a common cause

K O B A N I

[Anthea]

TIME

Kobani Struggles Amid Medicine and Food Shortages

One local describes how some trapped residents have been forced to break into the houses of neighbors who have fled to take their food

In some neighborhoods, the streets are littered with the bodies of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), said Mohammed, a 42 year old Kurdish fighter, describing the aftermath of days of U.S. airstrikes in and around the besieged Syrian city of Kobani, just a few hundred yards from the border with Turkey. “Normally, if we have time, we try to bury them, but now, because of the new clashes, we cannot,” he said on Friday, speaking to reporters over the phone from the city center. “You can now smell the carcasses.”

A fighter for the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdish militia defending Kobani, went on to describe the increasingly harrowing conditions inside the city, which has been holding out against an ISIS onslaught for more than a month. “We lack drinking water, milk for infants, and medicine,” he said. “We had three hospitals in the city, but ISIS destroyed all of them. Now we have one mobile clinic, but all it has is antibiotics.” Yet Mohammed, who asked that his last name not be made public, remained upbeat. “If the airstrikes don’t stop,” he said, “we will have victory in ten days.”

The YPG has received a big boost from the U.S. airstrikes but continues to fight with its back to the wall, said Ismet Sheikh Hasan, the city’s defense chief. Except for a single, now temporarily closed, border crossing with Turkey, Kobani remained cut off from the outside world, he said, while ISIS fighters are able to receive reinforcements from their strongholds inside Syria.

“The strikes are very good, but they’re not enough,” Hasan said, “because ISIS is hiding in the houses and in the streets, and we need heavy weapons to go after them and defeat them.”

In recent days, he added, even the narrow lifeline connecting the city to Turkey had come under threat, making it difficult to evacuate wounded fighters and several hundred stranded civilians. From a hill south of Kobani, ISIS tanks and artillery guns were shelling downtown neighborhoods and the Mursitpinar border crossing. Snipers were targeting the area as well.“They’re trying to control the main gate to stop our injured from reaching Turkey,” he said.

“We’ve prepared for such days,” said Luqman Ahmad, a civilian speaking to reporters by phone from Kobani. He and others inside the city center were eating whatever they had stored, mostly canned foods, he said, as well as livestock left behind by the tens of thousands of locals who fled to Turkey over the past month. “We’ve had to break into the houses of neighbors who’ve left, and to take their food.”

Artillery fire echoed on the Turkish side of the border as he spoke. Two coalition fighter jets circled above Kobani.

As night descended on Kobani on Friday, Hasan, the defense chief, sounded a glum note. Thanks to the airstrikes, the YPG was holding its ground, he said, but remained unable to make progress. “The balance is shifting in ISIS’ favor,” he said.

Minutes after he spoke, heavy clashes broke out to the east of the Kobani. In Caykara, a small Turkish village less than a mile from the border, locals crowded the roof of a mosque, listening to the unrelenting cackle of gunfire and the thump of artillery shells. Red tracer rounds dashed from the city center toward ISIS positions on the outskirts. A single fighter jet buzzed overhead, obscured by the darkness and the thick clouds hovering above Kobani. Rain started to fall.

http://time.com/3518080/kobani-medicine-food-shortages/

[Anthea]

Reuters

U.S.-led coalition jets strike Kobani after Islamic State shelling

U.S.-led coalition jets struck suspected Islamic State targets at least twice in the besieged Syrian town of Kobani on Saturday after fierce shelling by the insurgents hit the town center.

Shelling continued after the strikes, according to witnesses.

Islamic State militants have been battling Kurdish fighters for a month to take control of the town near the Turkish border, but stepped-up coalition air strikes have helped Kurds fend off the advance.

The coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since August and extended the campaign to Syria in September.

(Reporting by Hamdi Istanbullu, writing Ayla Jean Yackley; editing by Jane Baird)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/ ... CY20141018

[Anthea]

The Guardian

US-led air strikes against Isis in Syria 'killed 10 civilians'

Monitor group says 10 civilians killed in recent US-led strikes
Jets target Isis at least twice after fierce shelling of town

A group monitoring the violence in Syria said on Saturday recent US-led strikes in the country had killed 10 civilians. Washington said there was no evidence to back up the report.

Also on Saturday, US-led coalition jets struck suspected Islamic State (Isis) targets at least twice around the besieged Syrian town of Kobani, after fierce shelling by the insurgents hit the town centre. Shelling continued after the strikes, according to witnesses.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven civilians were killed when an air strike hit a gas plant near the town of al-Khasham is the eastern Deir al-Zor province on Friday, and three civilians were killed in an air strike on Thursday night in the north east province of al-Hassakah.

Reuters could not independently confirm the reports due to security restrictions.

“We have seen no evidence at this time to corroborate claims of civilian casualties. I can assure you that before any mission, every precaution is taken to ensure civilians are not harmed,” said US Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder.

“Regardless, we take reports of civilian casualties or damage to civilian facilities seriously and we have a process to investigate each allegation.”

The coalition, which has been bombing Isis targets in Iraq since August, extended the campaign to Syria in September. Close to 200,000 people have been killed in Syria’s three-year civil war, according to the United Nations.

Isis militants have been battling Kurdish fighters for a month to take control of Kobani, a town near the Syria-Turkish border, but stepped-up coalition air strikes have helped Kurds fend off the advance.

On Friday, General Lloyd Austin, the commanding officer of US Central Command, told reporters: “Iraq is our main effort, and it has to be, and the things that we’re doing right now in Syria are being done primarily to shape the conditions in Iraq.”

German police have arrested two men suspected of supporting Isis and raided properties across the country of another 13 suspected supporters of militant Islamist groups, prosecutors said on Saturday.

The two men were arrested in the western city of Aachen and identified as a 38-year-old Tunisian, Kamel Ben Yahia S, and a 28-year-old Russian, Yusup G, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

The Tunisian is suspected of providing clothing worth over €1,100 ($1,400) and €3,400 in cash to Isis since July 2013 and of smuggling a 17-year-old boy from Germany to Syria via Turkey to join the group. The Russian is accused of helping the smuggling and of being a member of a foreign terrorist organisation.

Authorities believe the other suspects supported either Isis or Ahrar al-Sham, another Syrian Islamist group, by providing thousands of boots and other military clothing.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/o ... sis-kobani

[Anthea]

Reuters

U.S.-led coalition jets pounded suspected Islamic State targets at least six times in the besieged Syrian town of Kobani on Saturday after the fiercest shelling in days by the insurgents shook the town's center and hit border areas within Turkey.

Shelling continued after the strikes hit the center of Kobani. Several mortars fell inside Turkey near the border gate, called Mursitpinar, according to witnesses.

Islamic State militants have battled Kurdish fighters for a month to take control of Kobani and consolidate a 60 mile (95 km) stretch of land they control along the Turkish border, but stepped-up air strikes in recent days have helped Kurds fend off the advance.

The coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since August and extended the campaign to Syria in September after the Islamic State, a group that espouses a rigid interpretation of Islam and initially focused on fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, made huge territorial gains.

NATO member Turkey is a somewhat reluctant member of the coalition, insisting it must also confront Assad to end a civil war that has killed some 200,000 civilians since March 2011.

On Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said U.S-led forces bombing Islamic State in Syria killed 10 civilians in two separate air strikes.

But U.S. Central Command said there was no evidence to back up the report. Its forces use mitigation measures to reduce the potential for civilian casualties, a spokesman said.

Reuters cannot independently confirm the reports due to security restrictions.

'CUT OFF'

In Kobani, a commander for the YPG, the Syrian Kurdish militia defending Kobani, who would only gave her code name Dicle, said Islamic State's renewed attacks were aimed at severing the town's last link with Turkey.

"They want to cut off Kobani's connection with the rest of the world," she told Reuters by telephone. "Turkey is not allowing in fighters or weapons, but they send aid at Mursitpinar. The Islamic State wants to destroy this gate so that we will be completely trapped here."

Turkey has refused to rearm beleaguered Kurdish fighters, who complain they are at huge disadvantage in the face of Islamic State's weaponry, many of it seized from the Iraqi military when it took the city of Mosul in June.

Turkey views the YPG with suspicion for its long-standing links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a 30-year armed campaign for self-rule in Turkey.

President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this month the PKK was no better than the Islamic State in his view.

This stance sparked outrage among Turkey's own Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of the population. Riots in several cities earlier this month killed more than 35 people.

INTENSE SHELLING

The Syrian Observatory said the Islamic State had launched at least 21 mortar attacks on Saturday close to the border.

Abdulrahman Gok, a journalist inside Kobani, said by telephone said the fighting was the worst in two days. "In the past hour, the shelling has intensified. They are firing almost one every two minutes," he said, adding that the insurgents were aiming at the east side of town towards the Mursitpinar gate.

A cloud of black smoke towered over the center of Kobani following the latest air strike as the roar of fighter jets could be heard from a blue sky. Gunfire popped in the west and center of town.

Elsewhere in Syria, government forces shelled neighborhoods in Damascus, the southern province of Deraa and the central province of Homs, opposition activists said.

Army helicopters were dropping improvised barrel bombs on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in northwest Idlib province, which also borders Turkey, they said.

Islamic State supporters circulated what they said was a nine-second video clip of a fighter jet said to be flown by Islamic State militants.

The Observatory reported that Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria were training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo.

U.S. Central Command said on Friday that it was not aware of Islamic State flying jets in Syria. Reuters could not confirm the authenticity of the footage, which showed a jet flying at low altitude.

Meanwhile, the United Nations said the Lebanese government has cut back sharply on the number of Syrian refugees it is allowing into the country. The country's Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas said in comments published a newspaper: "Lebanon is no longer officially receiving any Syrian refugees," except with those with pressing humanitarian needs.

Lebanon has the highest per capita concentration of refugees in the world, with one in four residents a refugee, many of them living in the poorest areas, and the government has said it cannot cope with the more than a million Syrians and has asked for funds to help look after them.

Turkey hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, including almost 200,000 Syrian Kurds from Kobani.

Amid the escalated fighting, Turkish trucks could be seen carrying about two dozen Kurdish refugees away from the border.

Several hundred people are still sheltering in a minefield to the west of Kobani in order to stay with their vehicles and farm animals, which are not allowed in Turkey.

(Additional reporting by Hamdi Istanbullu, writing by Ayla Jean Yackley, editing by Rosalind Russell)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/ ... IR20141018

[Anthea]

Reuters

Fiercest fighting in days hits Syrian border town
By Humeyra Pamuk

The fiercest fighting in days shook the Syrian border town of Kobani overnight as Islamic State fighters attacked Kurdish defenders with mortars and car bombs, sources in the town and a monitoring group said on Sunday.

Islamic State, which controls much of Syria and Iraq, fired 44 mortars at Kurdish parts of the town on Saturday and some of the shells fell inside nearby Turkey, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said four more mortars were fired on Sunday.

The month-long battle for Kobani has ebbed and flowed. A week ago, Kurds said the town would soon fall. The United States and its coalition partners then stepped up air strikes on Islamic State, which wants to take Kobani in order to strengthen its position in northern Syria.

The coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since August and extended the campaign to Syria in September after Islamic State, a group that espouses a rigid interpretation of Islam and initially fought Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, made huge territorial gains.

Raids on Islamic State around Kobani have been stepped up, with the fate of the town seen as an important test for U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign against the Islamists.

NATO member Turkey, whose forces are ranged along the border overlooking Kobani, is reluctant to intervene. It insists the allies should also confront Assad to end Syria's civil war, which has killed close to 200,000 people since March 2011.

"We had the most intense clashes in days, perhaps a week, last night. (Islamic State) attacked from three different sides including the municipality building and the market place," said Abdulrahman Gok, a journalist in Kobani.

"Clashes did not stop until the morning. We have had an early morning walk inside the city and have seen lots of damaged cars on the streets and unexploded mortar shells," he said.

CAR BOMBS

The Observatory reported two Islamic State car bombs hit Kurdish positions on Saturday evening, leading to casualties. A cloud of black smoke towered over Kobani on Sunday.

A fighter from one of the female units of the main Syrian Kurdish militia in Kobani, YPG, said Kurdish fighters were able to detonate the car bombs before they reached their targets.

"Last night there were clashes all across Kobani ... this morning the clashes are still ongoing," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Observatory said 70 Islamic State fighters had been killed in the past two days, according to sources at the hospital in the nearby town of Tel Abyab, where Islamic State bodies are taken. Reuters cannot independently confirm the reports due to security restrictions.

The Observatory said some Syrian Arab fighters from the Revolutionaries of Raqqa Brigade, who are fighting alongside Kurdish fighters, had executed two Islamic State captives.

"One was a child of around 15 years old. They shot them in the head," he said.

Islamic State have also used executions throughout their campaigns in Syria and Iraq, killing hundreds of enemy combatants and civilians who oppose their cause, according to Islamic State videos and statements.

Welat Omer, a doctor caring for the few remaining civilians in Kobani, told Reuters by telephone that he was looking after 15 patients, including children and the elderly.

“We need medicine, including antibiotics and milk for the children, and medicine for the elderly, who have heart conditions, diabetes and high blood pressure,” Omer said.

Hundreds of thousands have fled Islamic State's advance. Turkey hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, including almost 200,000 Syrian Kurds from Kobani.

Ankara has refused to rearm beleaguered Kurdish fighters, who complain they are at huge disadvantage in the face of Islamic State's weaponry, much of it seized from the Iraqi military when the militants took the city of Mosul in June.

Turkey views the YPG with suspicion for its long-standing links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a 30-year armed campaign for self-rule in Turkey.

President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted in the Turkish media on Sunday as saying Ankara will never arm the YPG through its political wing, the PYD.

"There has been talk of arming the PYD to establish a front here against Islamic State. For us, the PYD is the same as the PKK, it’s a terrorist organization," he was quoted as saying.

This stance has sparked outrage among Turkey's own Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of the population. Riots in several cities earlier this month killed left than 35 people dead.

In a call with Erdogan on Saturday night, Obama expressed appreciation for Turkey hosting over a million refugees, including thousands from Kobani.

"The two leaders pledged to continue to work closely together to strengthen cooperation against ISIL (Islamic State)," the White House said.

Obama's approach to Islamic State has drawn fire from his political opponents at home.

"We have dropped a bomb here and a missile there, but it has been a photo-op foreign policy," U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican and a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” show.

He criticized Obama for delays in aiding Kurdish fighters in desperate need of weapons and assistance.

(Additional reporting by Hamdi Istanbullu in Mursitpinar, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Seyhmus Cakan in Diyarbakir and Oliver Holmes in Beirut; Editing by Giles Elgood)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/ ... 7120141019

[Anthea]

The Telegraph

Isil presence in Turkey targeting Syrian rebels
By Ruth Sherlock, Yilmaz Ibrahim Pasha in Urfa and Magdy Samaan

Shooting of Syrian rebel inside Turkey casts doubt on loyalties of Nato ally in fight against Isil

A top Syrian rebel commander was shot and wounded in an apparent kidnapping attempt by the Islamic State in a Turkish city, raising questions about Ankara’s readiness to stop jihadists operating on its soil.

Abu Issa, the leader of Thuwar Raqqa, a Syrian rebel group who has been fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) in the town of Kobane, was ambushed by Isil extremists in Urfa in neighbouring Turkey.

Ankara has adopted tighter national security measures in recent months in an attempt to stem the flow of foreign fighters who have used its long border with Syria as a conduit to jihad.

But the flagrant kidnapping attempt in the southeastern town of Urfa, shows how Isil can still operate inside this Nato country with relative impunity.

The rebel commander and his son, Ammar, 20, were snatched from the car on Friday afternoon whilst returning home after meeting with Turkish officials in Urfa city centre, his aides told the Telegraph.

“Isil cars blocked the road ahead of them, and four armed men grabbed them from the vehicle,” said Ahmed Abdul Khader, a spokesman for Thuwar Raqqa. “It was 6.30pm.”

A matching account of the kidnapping was separately given to the Telegraph by Abo Ayham, another military commander in the group.

Abu Issa’s closest advisor, who was driving, had been in on the Isil plot, Mr Khader said, detouring to the quiet back road where the attack happened: “When the Isil cars blocked the road ahead, Abu Issa told the driver to turn around, but he just switched the engine off, and let the kidnappers take them from the car,” he said.

Abu Issa recognised two of the attackers, who had not covered their faces, as Isil members.

The kidnappers drove Abu Issa and his son at top speed towards the border and were intending to smuggle them to Syria.

Increased Turkish military presence there made it too difficult to cross, and the kidnap attempt was ultimately failed when one of the smugglers working with the Isil jihadists bailed on the plot.

The smuggler left Abu Issa, who was reportedly shot through the side during the kidnap attempt, at a hospital in Urfa early on Saturday morning.

The Telegraph was unable to reach the rebel commander but Abu Issa has long been a top target for Isil.

His death would be a massive blow for Thuwar Raqqa, whose men have been selected to receive military training in Turkey in the renewed, US-led push to defeat Isil in Syria.

The jihadist kidnappers, and Abu Issa’s advisor, who was reported to have been paid by the jihadists for his betrayal have since been arrested by the Turkish police, However, they are one of several cells that are said to be openly operating in Urfa and other Turkish border towns.

One Syrian in Turkey, who asked not to be named, used to be friends with four men who have since joined Isil: “I see them living a comfortable life in Urfa; they eat in the restaurants and spend time in cafes,” he said. “Nobody bothers them.”

Mr Khader said he had reported several Isil members in Turkey to the MIT, the country’s intelligence services: “They say: “Don’t worry, we are watching them.” But they don’t arrest them.”

Western governments have accused Turkey of not doing enough to stop Isil using its soil as a route for bringing fighters and supplies into Syria.

Last year the Telegraph reported how hundreds of extremist recruits were being kept in safe houses in Turkey before being smuggled to fight in the conflict next door.

Turkish officials vehemently deny that they have tolerated the presence of Isil extremists in the country.

They argue that the countries that the jihadists are coming from, including Britain, have a responsibility to stop these men and women from travelling to Turkey.

One senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “If we are warned in advance, we can stop them at the airport,” said the official. “But we need to have a legal basis. We can’t just refuse someone entry because they have a long beard.”

The official said this cooperation between states was improving, and that Turkey has turned back “6000 jihadists” who tried to enter the country.

Turkish security officials have also tracked down, arrested and in some cases deported “1000” Isil members in recent months, he said: “But it is much harder to do than stopping them from entering.”

Analysts have noted that Turkey is treading carefully because it fears that, in attacking Isil, either on its home turf, or as part of an international coalition in Syria and Iraq, could spark a wave of suicide and car bomb attacks by Isil inside Turkey.

The effect for Turkey, whose economy relies in large part on tourism, would be devastating.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... ebels.html

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The Independent

200,000 Syrian Kurds find a cold reception as
they flee Kobani across border into Turkey
Frederike Geerdink

As the battle for Kobani rages, up to 200,000 Syrian Kurds have fled into Turkey, where long-running animosities mean a suspicious reception at best. Frederike Geerdink reports from Suruc, close to the border

Fighting raged in Kobani, close to the Turkish border, today as Kurdish militia battled with Isis fighters who have laid siege to the Syrian town for a number of weeks.

With the aid of air strikes from a US-led coalition, the Kurds have been looking to push Isis, which also calls itself Islamic State, out of the town. The group has reached the border region, having taken hold of large swathes of both Syria and Iraq in recent months and declaring its own “caliphate”. The air strikes have intensified in recent days as the coalition of nations looks, in President Barack Obama’s words, “to degrade and destroy” the militant group. US Central Command said that 13 strikes were conducted over Syria on Saturday and yesterday with the aid of fighter planes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

There were a further 10 strikes in Iraq, many of them in Anbar province, an area where Isis has made gains recently. Of the attacks in Syria, 11 of them were around Kobani. US Central Command said those strikes hit 20 Isis fighting positions, five of the group’s vehicles and two buildings used by militants.

A British-based activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, claimed that militants fired dozens of mortars at Kurdish parts of the town on Saturday, as well as a number on Sunday.

Up to 200,000 Syrian Kurds have fled Kobani as Isis has advanced and crossed the border into Turkey. In a sports hall on the outskirts of Suruc, near the Syrian border, are dozens of Kurds, part of a group of about 250 that human rights group Amnesty International said crossed the border from Kobani earlier this month. They claim that they were detained while Turkish authorities took fingerprints, a common procedure for most refugees coming from Kobani, and were vetted for links to the Syrian Kurdish political group the PYD and its military wing, the YPG, which is fighting Isis in Kobani.

Turkey views the PYD and the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which has waged a 30-year armed campaign for self-rule for Kurds in Turkey and is designated a terror group by the US and Nato. The PYD and the YPG are affiliated with the armed Kurdish group.

Perwer Muhammed Ali, 27, one of the men held in the sports hall, said in a telephone interview with The Independent: “We were welcomed as guests and transported to a village. When we arrived, we heard that we were taken into custody for security reasons. We didn’t understand. There were many families in the group, children, pregnant women.”

Gulay Koca, a lawyer who works for the refugees, said they faced the threat of removal back to Syria.

Mr Ali insisted they were not part of the militia. “We are all citizens. I myself worked as a journalist in Kobani. I am not a YPG member. None of us is. If we were YPG members, surely we would have stayed in Kobani to fight Isis,” he said.

Mr Koca said that some people had already been sent back to Kobani, having allegedly signed a voluntary agreement to return. Mr Koca believes that the detentions have to do with the fact that the group fled from Kobani only now, later than most refugees. “Therefore, the authorities assume that they have ties to the PYD, the party that governs Kobani, because they would be the last ones to flee,” he said. “Everybody was asked if they worked for the PYD or fought with the YPG, the armed forces of the PYD which fights against Isis, or if they had other ties with one of these groups.”

He said he had been told by Turkish officials that the group of refugees was being held in “administrative supervision”, with Mr Koca adding that they could face deportation. Amnesty International has called for their release.

Back in Kobani people have said that help is needed. Welat Omer, a doctor caring for the few remaining civilians in Kobani, told Reuters news agency that he was looking after a number of patients, including children and the elderly. “We need medicine, including antibiotics and milk for the children, and medicine for the elderly.”

As the battle continued for Kobani, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was quoted yesterday as saying that Ankara would never arm the YPG through its political wing, the PYD. “There has been talk of arming the PYD to establish a front here against [Isis]. For us, the PYD is the same as the PKK – it’s a terrorist organisation,” the Turkish media reported the President as saying.

This stance has sparked outrage among Turkey’s own Kurds, who make up about 20 per cent of the population. Riots in several cities earlier this month killed dozens.

“It would be wrong for the US – with whom we are friends and allies in Nato – to talk openly and to expect us to say ‘Yes’ to support to a terrorist organisation,” Mr Erdogan said. His comments were reported by the state-run Anadolu agency.

Turkey’s opposition to arms transfers to the Kurdish forces is hampering the US-led coalition’s efforts to fight the extremists and further complicating relations between Turkey and Washington. The countries are involved in negotiations about Ankara’s role within the coalition.

In a call to Mr Erdogan on Saturday, Mr Obama expressed appreciation to Turkey for hosting more than one million refugees in the country. The pair also reportedly discussed the situation in Kobani. “The two leaders pledged to continue to work closely together to strengthen co-operation against [Isis],” the White House said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 05017.html

[Anthea]

Aleppo is dying:

An Armenian neighbourhood in Aleppo just yards from the front line. Snipers are shooting down this road



For more than 2 years this Armenian neighbourhood in Aleppo has come under fire from rebels



Trenches just yards from the frontline in Aleppo, outside the office of the regional governor



The alleyways of old Aleppo. Deserted now, clashes continue, but regime says will hold all soon



Near citadel in old Aleppo, sound of mortars and small arms, snipers all over, completely destroyed



Old Aleppo, the city's front line. Syria's years of cultural history now crumbling

[Anthea]

France 24

Syria Kurds weather IS assault as they await reinforcements

Kurdish fighters in the battleground Syrian town of Kobane weathered an onslaught by Islamic State group militants on Tuesday as they awaited promised reinforcements.

The Kurdish militia faced a fierce attack by IS fighters, including suicide bombers, late on Monday, that appeared aimed at cutting off the border with Turkey before any reinforcements could arrive, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Fighting continued on Tuesday with exchanges between IS forces in the east of the town and Kurds in the west and there were reports of an explosion, probably a car bomb, the Britain-based monitoring group said.

Kobane has become a crucial symbolic battleground in the war against IS, which is fighting to extend areas under its control in Iraq and Syria where it has declared an Islamic "caliphate".

Ankara announced on Monday that it would help Kurdish forces from Iraq to relieve Kobane's beleaguered defenders, in a major shift of policy that was swiftly welcomed by Washington.

Iraqi Kurdish officials have said they will provide the training, although any forces sent will be Syrian Kurds.

The US administration has stepped up its commitment to Kobane in recent days, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying it would be "irresponsible" and "morally very difficult" not to help.

Three C-130 cargo aircraft carried out what the US military called "multiple" successful drops of supplies early on Monday, including arms provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq.

Impressive' resistance

One of the 27 bundles dropped went astray and US warplanes bombed it to prevent it falling into IS hands.

A US-led coalition has carried out more than 135 air strikes against IS targets around Kobane, but it was the first time it had delivered arms to the town's defenders.

Coalition aircraft carried out further strikes during the night, said the Observatory, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.

IS lost at least five of its militants to air strikes on Monday and a further 12 in ground fighting, including two suicide bombers, the monitoring group said.

Five Kurdish fighters were also killed.

A senior US administration official said Monday's airdrop was in recognition of the "impressive" resistance put up by the Kurds and the losses they were inflicting on IS.

But US commanders said the top priority remains Iraq, where IS swept through much of the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad in June, and both government and Kurdish forces are under pressure.

The jihadists attacked the Kurdish-controlled town of Qara Tapah on Monday, killing at least 10 people and prompting half of its population of 9,000 to flee.

"We are afraid IS will encircle us and turn this town into a second Amerli," said one resident of the town.

He was referring to a mainly Shiite Turkmen town further north which was besieged by IS for two months before government troops backed by militia broke through in late August.

Since last week, the Iraqi capital has seen a rise in the number of bomb attacks, several of which have been claimed by IS.

Iraq PM in Tehran talks

On Monday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a Shiite mosque in the central Baghdad neighbourhood of Sinak, killing at least 11 people.

The violence has raised fears IS will attack large gatherings of Shiite worshippers during the upcoming Ashura commemorations, the target of devastating bombings in past years.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi was in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with his Shiite ally on the fight against IS.

The jihadists hold towns just a few miles (kilometres) from the Iranian border, and Tehran has been a key backer of Baghdad's efforts to hold them back.

According to a senior Iraqi Kurdish official, Iran has deployed troops on the Iraqi side of the border in the Khanaqin area northeast of Baghdad.

Iranian forces also played a role in breaking the siege of Amerli, another senior Kurdish official said.

But Abadi on Monday ruled out any foreign ground intervention to assist government forces in retaking territory lost to jihadists.

"No ground forces from any superpower, international coalition or regional power will fight here," Abadi told reporters.

"This is my decision, it is the decision of the Iraqi government, he said.

Syrian government forces are also battling the jihadists and on Tuesday advanced into the eastern city of Deir Ezzor's Hay Sina industrial zone in fighting that left three IS foreign fighters and seven soldiers dead.

But any cooperation with the government of President Bashar al-Assad is anathema for the US-led coalition, which has supported the opposition in the country's devastating three and a half year civil war.

http://www.france24.com/en/20141021-syr ... ce=twitter

[Piling]

Hemin Salih
BasNews, Erbil


The first squad of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, heading to Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan via the Turkish border, are expected to arrive on Wednesday. Turkey approved requests to let the Peshmerga enter Kobani on Monday.

Kurdistan Peshmerga fighters say that it is the responsibility of the Peshmerga to help and support Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which has been fighting the Islamic State (IS) militants for more than a month.

The BasNews source said that the only condition Turkish authorities made was that the Kurdish force should be under the command of the Kurdistan Regional Government and not Kurdish political parties.

The source also said that the KRG military and humanitarian aid for Kobani and Kurdish fighters would continue.

“The purpose of the Peshmerga force going to Kobani is to give training to YPG fighters on the weapons that were sent by the KRG to Kobani,” added the source.

On Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country has agreed to Kurdish Peshmerga forces entering Turkey to access the besieged city.

The United States on Monday praised the policy reversal by Turkey, 'We welcome the statements from the foreign ministry,' State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

Seems that these Peshmergas are Syrians, they are waiting for 3 years to come back to fight in their own country, thanks to PYD. But if Basenews tells the truth they will have only a 'training program', so let's see if there will be a joint commandment later.

[Anthea]

Washington Post

Photos: The battle for Kobane, revealed by U.N. satellite imagery

Photos depicting the ongoing battle against the Islamic State are hard to come by, with many of the most prominent images often taken by the militants themselves. Since the world's focus shifted to the northern Syrian city of Kobane, a Kurdish haven located right next to the Turkish border, that has changed. There has been no shortage of dramatic footage, filmed from relative safety across the border in Turkey.

New satellite images -- released by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and shot by Digital Globe -- offer another perspective. The pictures show from bird's eye view how Kobane has turned into a war zone. The first set of pictures was shot Sept. 6, a few weeks before the fighting in the city reached international front pages. The second set of images was taken last Wednesday, Oct. 15.

On their flight, Syrian Kurds abandoned their cars at Kobani border crossing





To view several excellent photos follow link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wor ... e-imagery/