This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/twin-fronts-in-syria-and-iraq-struggle-to-drive-by-islamic-state-advance/2014/10/02/b8e86f66-4a26-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html?wprss=rss_world

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Islamic State drives toward besieged cities in Iraq, Syria; defenders call for airstrikes Islamic State presses offensives in Iraq, Syria; defenders call for more airstrikes
(about 4 hours later)
BAGHDAD —Islamic State fighters waged battles near the gates of besieged cities in Syria and Iraq on Thursday as defenders on both fronts prepared for possible street-by-street battles and appealed for intensified U.S.-led airstrikes, reports and witnesses said. BAGHDAD — Islamic State fighters pressed their assault on two key towns in Syria and Iraq on Thursday as defenders on both fronts prepared for possible street-by-street battles and appealed for intensified U.S.-led airstrikes, reports and witnesses said.
In Turkey, lawmakers agreed to allow the country to join the international fight against the Islamic State in a powerful addition to the American-led alliance. The twin showdowns — in the Euphrates River town of Hit in Iraq and the strategic Syrian crossroads of Kobane near the Turkish border — suggest that the Islamic State retains enough firepower and command structure to make continued gains despite weeks of airstrikes by Western and Arab nations.
The scope of the possible Turkish operations was not immediately clear. But the potential deployment of Turkish ground forces in Syria and Iraq could alter the overall tactics, which have so far concentrated on air attacks against the Islamic State’s oil smuggling and supply networks. The clashes also have exposed weaknesses among the ground forces trying to blunt the extremist group’s push. Such worries have been raised in Turkey, whose parliament on Thursday gave the green light for possible military intervention in the two neighboring countries.
The twin showdowns for the cities — in the Euphrates River city of Hit in Iraq and the strategic Syrian crossroads of Kobane near the Turkish border — suggest that the Islamic State still has enough firepower and command structure to make gains despite weeks of aerial attacks by Western and Arab warplanes. Turkey, which maintains a vast and well-equipped military, had previously sent reinforcements to the border but had remained on the sidelines of the international coalition against the Islamic State. The parliament’s nod to an active Turkish role in the fight could mark a significant shift in tactics.
The clashes also have exposed weaknesses in ground forces trying to blunt the Islamic State’s push. In Syria’s northern Kurdish region, Islamic State militants appeared to be moving closer to the border town of Kobane, which has been under near-constant attack for more than two weeks. The battles have sent more than 160,000 people fleeing to Turkey or seeking haven in enclaves outside the group’s reach.
The loss of Hit, an oil-pipeline hub about 115 miles by road northwest of Baghdad, would further consolidate the Islamic State’s hold across Sunni-dominated areas stretching from near Iraq’s capital to Mosul, the largest city in the north. The region was once a key battleground between insurgents and Sunni tribes recruited by the United States to fight on its side. A senior Syrian Kurdish commander, Ismet Sheik Hasan, said forces defending Kobane were digging in for possible urban combat in the event that Islamic State fighters breach the last lines ringing the town, also known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab.
Now, Washington and Iraqi partners are trying to forge a similar alliance to help battle the Sunni-led Islamic State, a radical al-Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIS or ISIL. The U.S. military said the United States and partner nations launched four airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday and Thursday.
Just before dawn Thursday, militants targeted the Hit police headquarters and a separate checkpoint with car bombs, local officials said. In Iraq, the loss of Hit, a town nested along a major pipeline route and about 115 miles northwest of Baghdad, would further consolidate the Islamic State’s hold on Sunni-dominated areas stretching from near the capital to Mosul, the largest city in the north. The region was once a key battleground between insurgents and Sunni tribes recruited by the United States to fight on its side.
The officials said coalition warplanes carried out airstrikes on the militants, forcing them to retreat. Now, Washington and its Iraqi partners are trying to forge a similar alliance to help battle the Sunni-led Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot.
Just before dawn Thursday, militants targeted the Hit police headquarters and a checkpoint with car bombs, local officials said.
The officials said coalition warplanes carried out strikes against the militants, forcing them to retreat. The U.S. military said the international coalition conducted seven airstrikes in Iraq on Wednesday and Thursday.
A member of the local council in Hit, Mohannad Mizbar, said Thursday afternoon that Islamic State fighters continued to battle Iraqi troops on the outskirts of the city.A member of the local council in Hit, Mohannad Mizbar, said Thursday afternoon that Islamic State fighters continued to battle Iraqi troops on the outskirts of the city.
A Hit resident contacted by telephone said later that Islamic State fighters raised their flag over the mayor’s office and that street-to-street battles were raging between the insurgents and Iraqi security forces. But a Hit resident contacted by telephone said later that Islamic State fighters had raised their group’s flag over the mayor’s office in the city center and that street-to-street battles were raging between the insurgents and Iraqi security forces by nightfall.
Also Thursday, Islamic State militants assaulted a large army base in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, but the attack was eventually repelled by security forces, officials said. Also Thursday, Islamic State militants assaulted a large army base in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, detonating car bombs and firing mortar rounds. Security forces eventually repelled the attack, officials said.
Ramadi is one of the last major areas of Anbar province, where Hit is also located, that is still under government control. A prominent pro-government tribal leader, Ahmed Abu Risha, said Thursday that jihadists also attacked his Ramadi-area village in a bid to weaken the armed tribesmen who bolster government security around the city. Ramadi is one of the last major areas of Anbar province, where Hit is also located, that is still under government control. Jihadists have maintained a strong presence in Anbar since January, and the government has struggled to roll back their gains.
They attacked the village, also called Abu Risha, after midnight, he said, and his men were still fighting the militants on Thursday. “The area is very strategic,” said Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha, a prominent pro-government tribal leader in the area. “They want to attack it to make people feel unsafe,” he said of the militants.
“The area is very strategic,” Abu Risha said. In Geneva, a U.N. report released Thursday cited widespread atrocities and abuses at the hands of the Islamic State, including mass executions and beheadings, the sale of captive women and girls as sex slaves, and targeted attacks against religious minorities, including Christians and Yazidis, members of an ancient sect.
In Syria’s northern Kurdish region, the militants appeared to moving closer to the border town of Kobane, which has been under near-constant attack for more than two weeks. The battles have sent more than 160,000 people fleeing to neighboring Turkey or seeking haven in enclaves still outside the Islamic State’s reach. The report by the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq could help lay the groundwork for eventual charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A senior Syrian Kurdish commander, Ismet Sheikh Hasan, said forces defending Kobane were digging in for possible urban combat if Islamic State fighters breach the last lines ringing the town, also known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab. It added that 24,000 civilians were killed or injured in violence in Iraq during the first eight months of this year — the highest such toll since the height of sectarian battles and the insurgency against U.S. forces more than seven years ago.
Turkey, a NATO member with a vast and modern military, now has political backing to consider sending troops across the border in Syria and Iraq and opening up its bases to other foreign forces. In the 1990s, Turkey’s Incirlik air base was a hub for U.S.-led air patrols protecting Iraqi Kurds from Saddam Hussein’s armed forces. Murphy reported from Washington. Mustafa Salim contributed to this report.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has called for a similar buffer zone inside Syria. He has also echoed calls by President Obama to use “moderate” Syrian rebels as a proxy fighting force against the Islamic State. Turkey has been a key backer of rebel groups seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“In the struggle against terrorism, we are open and ready for every kind of cooperation. However, Turkey is not a country that will allow itself to be used for temporary solutions,” Erdogan said Wednesday.
In Geneva, a U.N. report cited widespread atrocities and abuses carried out by the Islamic State, including mass executions and beheadings, selling captive women and girls as sex slaves and waging targeted attacks against religious minorities including Christians and Yazidis, an ancient sect whose historical land is near Mosul.
The report by the U.N. Human Rights Office and the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq could help lay the groundwork for eventual charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It added that 24,000 civilians were killed or injured in violence in Iraq during the first eight months of this year — numbers not seen since the height of internal sectarian battles and the insurgency against U.S. forces more than seven years ago.
Murphy reported from Washington.