Islamic State gains ground in Kurdish town
October 6, 2014, 2:50 pm

Kurds clash with Turkish border guards preventing them from crossing into Syria to join besieged Kobani residents fighting ISIL [Xinhua]

On Monday, IS fighters using US-made tanks and artillery captured in Iraq continued their advance in the Kurdish town of Kobani in northeastern Syria.

Kobani is considered to have strategic significance as it would give IS control of territory extending from its self-declared capital of Raqqa, some 90 kilometers to the south, to the Turkish border.

Turkey has increased its military presence along its border with Syria but has prevented volunteers from its Kurdish minority to cross over to assist Kurdish fighters under siege in Kobani.

Coalition air strikes appear to have failed to thwart the Islamic State’s offensive to capture territory in Syria and Iraq.

On Sunday, US Central Command said it had destroyed two IS tanks, a bulldozer, an unspecified vehicle and several artillery positions.

Nevertheless, IS fighters reportedly surround Kobani from three sides and have been seen to raise their flag over a number of buildings in the eastern sector of the town.

Fighter jets from a number of Arab and European countries led by the US have carried out dozens of air strikes against IS positions and materiel in the past two weeks.

Military analysts say that the air raids have forced the extremist group to change tactics. In Syria, IS fighters have assassinated leaders of rival militant groups and seized more than 60 Kurdish villages in Syria’s north forcing an estimated 160,000 people to flee to Turkey.

Meanwhile, IS fighters have concentrated their military campaign nearer to the Iraqi capital Baghdad coming within 9 kilometers of the city.

Over the weekend, the US military was forced to use Apache attack helicopters against IS fighters in the cities of Falluja and Hit in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

Source: Agencies