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Kurdish forces take control of Syrian town of Kobani Kurdish forces take control of Syrian town of Kobani
(about 1 hour later)
Kurdish forces took full control of the Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border on Monday, driving out the last group of Islamic State fighters after nearly four months of battles, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has said. Kurdish forces took full control of the Syrian town of Kobani on Monday, driving out remaining Islamic State fighters to end a four-month battle that became a focal point of the international fight against the Islamist group.
The Syrian Kurdish forces have been backed by near daily US-led air strikes around the town, known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, and supported by Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces. The monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian Kurdish YPG forces had retaken the town, close to the Turkish border, but were still proceeding carefully in the eastern outskirts where Islamic State had planted mines before fleeing.
The town has become a symbol in the battle against Isis, who launched a campaign to capture the town in July. “I can see the YPG flag flying over Kobani. There are the sounds of jets flying above,” said Tevfik Kanat, a Turkish Kurd who rushed to the border with hundreds of others, including refugees from Kobani, after hearing about the advance. “People are dancing and singing, there are fireworks. Everyone feels a huge sense of relief.”
Kobani official Idris Nassan said on Monday that half of the town had been completely destroyed and much of the rest of it had suffered damage, leaving many homeless. He said the town lacked water, electricity, hospitals and food. Photographs posted on social media showed Kurdish fighters shaking hands and Kurdish flags flying over recaptured territory.
The fighting in and around Kobani drove tens of thousands of residents into Turkey and prompted Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces to travel to Syria to support the YPG, after the US asked Ankara to let them join the fight. US-led forces have carried out almost daily air strikes on Isis positions around the town.
The battle of Kobani is the only publicly declared example of US-led forces closely coordinating militarily with a ground force to battle Islamic State. The US says it wants to train and equip non-jihadist groups to fight Isis elsewhere in Syria but fighters say there is uncertainty surrounding the plans.
The recapture raises the question of what Islamic State will do next. Its fighters halted a westwards advance in the countryside north of Aleppo in September when it launched the offensive against Kobani. The group still has fighters in hundreds of surrounding villages.
“The entire city is liberated. The clashes will start now in Kobani’s villages,” said Perwer Mohammed Ali, a journalist who was at the frontline with the YPG.
An official in Kobani said earlier that half the city had been completely destroyed and much of the rest had suffered damage. Idris Nassan said the predominantly Kurdish town also lacked water, electricity, hospitals and food.