Saturday, November 29, 2014

Genocide of Kurds continues, ISIS launches attack on Kobane from inside Turkey for first time-UK Guardian. US close friend Turkey previously refused to stop ISIS, now aiding it. Too bad Kurds don't speak Spanish, Boehner and McConnell would grant them refugee status in the US

.
11/29/14, "Isis launches attack on Kobani from inside Turkey for first time," UK Guardian staff
.
"Assault by Islamic State militants reportedly began with suicide attack on border between Turkey and strategic Syrian town."
.

"Islamic State (Isis) has launched an attack on the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey for the first time, a Kurdish official and activists said. 

The assault began with a suicide attack by a bomber in an armoured vehicle on the border crossing between Kobani and Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based opposition group, said.

Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union party, said that Isis “used to attack the town from three sides” but “today, they are attacking from four sides”.

Turkey has previously backing the Syrian rebels fighting to topple the country’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has it has been reluctant to help the Kurds in Kobani for fear of stoking Kurdish ambitions for an independent state.

There was no comment from Ankara on Saturday about Isis fighters launching the assault from Turkish soil.

SOHR said heavy fighting also took place south-west of the town, where Isis brought in tanks to reinforce their fighters.

The group began its Kobani offensive in mid-September, capturing parts of the town and dozens of nearby villages. The town later became the focus of air strikes by the US-led coalition against the militants.

Kurdish fighters have slowly been advancing in Kobani since late October. Hundreds of people have been killed in the fighting.

SOHR said on Saturday that the latest fighting killed at least eight Kurdish fighters and 17 jihadists."

Image: "People watch smoke rise from the Syrian town of Kobane on October 26, 2014, on the Turkish side of the border, near the village of Mursitpinar ©Bulent Kilic (AFP/File)," via UK Mail

===================== 

ISIS snipers said to be positioned in grain storage units within Turkey:

11/29/14, "Kobane attackers came from Turkey, claims Turkey's main Kurdish party," Reuters via UK Telegraph


"Four Islamic State militants blew themselves up in Kobane, one detonating a car bomb at the Mursitpinar border crossing, having apparently come into the besieged city from Turkey."

"The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the vehicle used in the dawn car bombing had come from Turkish territory. A second bomber detonated an explosive vest in the same area, before two more suicide attacks hit the southwestern edge of the town, it said.
.
Idris Nassan, a Kurdish official in Kobane, said Islamic State snipers were hiding among grain depots on the Turkish side of the border and firing on the town.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish HDP also said the militants were using state grain storage facilities as a base and described their presence in an area patrolled by Turkish security forces as a "scandal". 

"As we have been pointing out for months, this once more proves that Islamic State is being supported (from within Turkey)," the HDP said in a statement.
Turkey has vehemently denied supporting the jihadists, saying they are also a threat to its own national security. 

A Turkish official had no immediate information on the attacks and Reuters could obtain no independent confirmation of the HDP's accusation that Islamic State fighters were firing from Turkish soil. 

Ankara has refused to take a frontline role in US-led action against Islamic State, fearing it could strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces or Kurdish militias, both of which it sees as a threat. 

The stance has infuriated Turkey's Kurds, prompting violent protests in October in which around 40 people were killed. 

The Observatory said clashes broke out across Kobane on Saturday. It said Islamic State fighters fired at least 110 shells and were bringing in tanks. Two air strikes had targeted Islamic State positions to the east, it said. 

At least 30 fighters were killed, said Rami Abdulrahman, the Observatory's director. Twenty-one were Islamic State fighters, including the four bombers. The rest were Kurdish forces."

Image: "A Kurdish peshmerga fighter talks on the phone during fighting against Islamic State group in the Syrian beseiged border town of Kobane on November 8, 2014 ©Ahmed Deeb (AFP/File)," via UK Mail





.

No comments: