Kurdish forces drive IS out of Kobani in Syria
Syrian Kurdish YPG ends four-month battle for town near Turkish border
Members of the Syrian Kurdish YPG celebrate recapturing the town of
Kobani, Syria, near the Turkish border. Photograph: EPA/STR
Kurdish forces have taken full control of the Syrian town of Kobani, driving out remaining Islamic State fighters to end a four-month battle that became a focal point of the international effort against the extremist Islamist group.
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.
“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,” he said.
Daily air strikes
US-led
forces have carried out almost daily air strikes on Islamic State
positions around the town, a frontline in the battle against the group
that has captured large expanses of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate.
The fighting in and around Kobani drove tens of thousands of residents into Turkey
and prompted Iraqi Kurdish forces known as peshmerga to travel to Syria
to support the YPG after the US asked Ankara to let them join the
fight.
The battle of Kobani is the only official
example of US-led forces closely coordinating with a ground force to
battle Islamic State.
The US says it wants to
train and equip non-jihadist groups to fight Islamic State elsewhere in
Syria but fighters say there is uncertainty surrounding the plans.
Islamic State 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 from the town who was
at the frontline with the YPG.
An official in
Kobani told reporters that half of the city had been completely
destroyed and much of the rest had suffered damage.
Idris
Nassan said the predominantly Kurdish town, known as Ayn al-Arab in
Arabic, also lacked water, electricity, hospitals and food.
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