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Islamic State fighters re-enter Syrian town of Kobani Isis attacks areas held by Syrian army and Kurdish militia
(35 minutes later)
Islamic State fighters have re-entered the Syrian town of Kobani and are battling Kurdish militia, a group monitoring the war has reported. Islamic State fighters have launched simultaneous attacks against the Syrian army and Kurdish militia overnight, going back on the offensive after losing ground in recent days to Kurdish-led forces in Raqqa province.
The town at the Turkish border was captured by Kurdish forces from Isis in January after months of fighting. Now Isis has launched a new offensive on Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, with a car bomb blast near the border crossing overnight, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Isis had re-entered the border town of Kobani, where it is battling Kurdish militia, and wrested positions from the Syrian army in an assault on the north-eastern city of Hasakah.
Dozens of people had been killed or wounded in the explosion and subsequent fighting, it added. Kobani was captured by Kurdish forces from Isis in January after months of fighting. Overnight Isis launched a new offensive on the town, starting with a car bomb explosion near the border crossing, the observatory said.
“Isis detonated a suicide bomb in the area near the border crossing with Turkey, killing at least five people,” said the observatory director, Rami Abdurrahman. “Fierce clashes erupted afterwards in the centre of the town and there are bodies lying in the streets.” Hospital officials in the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab, told Reuters that at least 12 people were killed and 70 wounded in the blast and subsequent fighting.
He did not give a specific death toll and said fighting was still raging on Thursday morning. “Isis detonated a suicide bomb in the area near the border crossing with Turkey, killing at least five people,” said observatory director, Rami Abdurrahman. “Fierce clashes erupted afterwards in the centre of the town and there are bodies lying in the streets.”
A Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) official also reported that a car bomb had exploded as Isis militants staged an attack from three sides of the town. Isis battled for four months to seize Kobani, but Kurdish fighters – backed by US-led air strikes – secured control of the border town in January in a symbolic defeat for the jihadis. Abdurrahman did not give a specific death toll and said fighting was still raging on Thursday morning.
Thousands of people who fled Kobani across the border to Turkey have returned to the town since the siege. Welat Omer, a doctor, told Reuters that about 60-70 people had been wounded in the latest attacks, many of them women and children. A Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) official also reported that a car bomb had exploded as Isis militants staged an attack from three sides of the town.
In recent weeks, YPG forces have advanced from Kobani in Aleppo province into neighbouring Raqqa province, the Isis stronghold. Thousands of people who fled Kobani across the border to Turkey during the original fighting have since returned. Welat Omer, a doctor, told Reuters that about 60-70 people had been wounded in the latest attacks, many of them women and children.
They captured the strategic town of Tal Abyad, also on the border with Turkey, and pushed towards Isis’s de-facto Syrian capital, Raqqa city. In recent weeks, YPG forces have advanced from Kobani in Aleppo province into neighbouring Raqqa province, the Isis stronghold. They captured the strategic town of Tal Abyad, also on the border with Turkey, and pushed towards Isis’s de-facto Syrian capital, Raqqa city.
Isis fighters were also reported to have wrested areas of the north-eastern Syrian city of Hasakah from government control in fighting overnight, although a Syrian military source denied the report, saying the army had repelled the attack. Meanwhile, Syrian state TV reported heavy clashes between Isis fighters and the Syrian army and allied militia in the al-Nashwa district of Hasakah, which is divided into separate zones of government and Kurdish control.
In a separate offensive, rebel groups attacked Syrian government-held areas of Deraa city in the south, the observatory said. Insurgents have dealt the forces of the president, Bashar al-Assad, significant blows in the area in recent months.
The southern rebels, who include the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and groups that do not share its jihadi ideology, have long said they aim to expel Syrian government forces from Deraa city itself. Syrian state TV said the army had repelled attacks against a number of military positions in the south of the country.
About 70% of Deraa province is already under the control of rebel groups, AFP reported.