Posted on 11/14/2014 8:30:18 PM PST by GonzoII
Beirut: The Islamic State group is locked in a war of attrition in the Syrian border town of Kobane, where Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes are mounting fierce resistance.
Two months after IS launched a major offensive to try to capture the strategic prize on the Turkish frontier, the jihadists have failed to defeat the town's Kurdish defenders.
"Several weeks ago, it looked like Kobane would fall, but it is now clear that it will not," said Romain Caillet, a French expert on jihadist movements.
"IS controls more than half of the town but is unable to advance further," he told AFP.
...
On October 6, the jihadists reached the gates of Kobane, triggering panic among civilians.
Tens of thousands fled across the border into Turkey in fear of the reputed brutality of the IS fighters.
The jihadists, equipped with advanced weaponry seized from Iraqi and Syrian troops, then fought their way into central Kobane.
But their advance has since faltered in the face of fierce Kurdish resistance and US-led bombings on IS targets.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 600 jihadists and nearly 370 Kurdish fighters have died in the battle for Kobane.
The fighting also killed around 24 civilians in Kobane, which used to be home to around 150,000 people, most of them Kurds.
IS "now faces a war of attrition that is costing it more than its Kurdish adversaries", said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Observatory.
(Excerpt) Read more at ndtv.com ...
Ping.
Good. Lets hope it continues to be an ISIS meat grinder.
Watch out for kurdish towns in syria; Afrin for instance.
Other kurdish
The longer the Kurds hold this town the more likely it is that ISIS will fall apart in the near future. I cannot believe, however, that we do not have a constant supply of Predators, Reepers, or Grey Eagles overhead to sustain attacks on ISIS in the fight for Kobani. That would be an easy tool to put on station quickly that would rain Hellfire missiles down on these devils.
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