Intensified US-led airstrikes and a determined Kurdish military force on the ground appeared to have had some success in halting advances by Islamic State fighters on a strategic Kurdish town near Syria’s border with Turkey. (Oct. 16)
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Syrian border town of Kobani, as seen from Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey – October 16, 2014
1. Kobani, seen from the Turkish side, with plume of smoke rising
Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey – October 16, 2014
2. Turkish tanks
3. Turkish soldier with binoculars watching Kobani city, AUDIO: Gunfire can be heard from distance
4. Tanks on hilltops, AUDIO: distant gunfire
Syrian border town of Kobani, as seen from Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey – October 16, 2014
5. Building with what appears to be the black flag of the Islamic State militant group on top
Mursitpinar, Sanliurfa province, Turkey – October 16, 2014
6. Turkish military vehicles and APCs stationed near the border with Syria
7. Wide of border area
Suruc District, Sanliurfa province, Turkey – October 16, 2014
8. Wide of a makeshift Syrian refugee camp
9. Mid of refugees outside their tents
10. Syrian women cleaning their dishes, child crying
11. Children playing
12. Refugees at the camp
STORYLINE:
Intensified US-led airstrikes and a determined Kurdish military force on the ground appeared to have had some success in halting advances by Islamic State fighters on a strategic Kurdish town near Syria’s border with Turkey – at least for now.
Kurdish militiamen were on Thursday continuing to fight the militants in the streets of Kobani.
The sound of occasional gunfire could be heard across the border from Kobani a day after Kurdish fighters managed to slow the advance of the jihadist group.
The Kurdish fighters have held out against the more experienced jihadists a month into the militants’ offensive on the frontier town, hanging on to their territory against all expectations.
On Thursday however, a Syrian Kurdish official called on the international community to allow weapons into the border town for the Kurdish fighters, saying the Islamic State group could bring in reinforcements and weapons at any time.
He said airstrikes by the US-led coalition were not enough.
The Kurdish fighters have put up a formidable fight, despite feeling a deep sense of abandonment by an international community they believe has failed to come to their rescue as it did with their brethren and other minorities in Iraq threatened by Islamic State militants.
The fighting in and around Kobani has killed more than 550 people, the majority of them Islamic State fighters, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled into Turkey from Syria. Many are staying in makeshift camps.
