Kobani appears to be about to fall to ISIS and Kurds are trapped in the Syrian city, which has been under siege for about three weeks. The United Nations (UN) is warning of pending massacres and “humanitarian tragedies” if the Islamic State militants capture the Turkish border town.
Kurds from around northern Syria have reportedly rushed to Kobani to make a “final stand” against ISIS. The Islamic State fighters left a huge path of death and destruction in their wake as they marched in Kobani, if local news reports are accurate. ISIS flags have begun to appear over neighborhoods in Kobani as UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura informed the world that the city was on the brink of falling under ISIS control.
“The world, all of us, will regret deeply if ISIS is able to take over a city which has defended itself with courage but is close to not being able to do so. We need to act now,” the Syrian United Nations envoy said. “The world has seen with its own eyes the images of what happens when a city in Syria or Iraq is overtaken by the terrorist group called ISIS or Da’esh: massacres, humanitarian tragedies, rapes, horrific violence. The international community cannot sustain another city falling under ISIS,” he added.
The fight for Kobani is taking place within eyesight of the Turkish border, causing international pressure to mount on Ankara to become involved militarily in the ISIS battle. Approximately 200,000 refugees have already reportedly fled to Turkey. The coalition air strikes, which began in September, will not be enough to stop ISIS, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Kobani is about to fall,” the president told Syrian refugees huddled in Gaziantep, a town along the Turkish border.
While Turkish troops have been sent to the border area, the soldiers have not yet taken an “offensive posture” in relation to the ISIS threat. About 20 Turkish tanks are said to be stationed on a hill overlooking Kobani. President Erdogan has urged for more cooperation to be initiated with the Syrian opposition. The group is currently fighting both Islamic extremists and troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
If ISIS does take complete control of Kobani, the Islamic State would control a large region of land bordering Turkey and eliminate a significant portion of the Kurdish resistance. The land in and around Kobani would also serves as a direct link between the ISIS territory in Aleppo, Syria, and its even larger base of operations in Raqqa , also a Syrian city in the northeastern region of the country.
State Department officials plan to travel to Turkey later this week to discuss the “status” of the international coalition engaged in the ISIS airstrikes.
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[Image via Turkiye Newspaper ]