Posted on 10/19/2014 4:04:07 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Hunkered in scrubland at the western edge Kobane, their clothes stained with sweat, and the blood splatters of wounded comrades, the rebel commander and his men believed they had made their last stand.
But then the US Air Force struck: a bombardment that turned the tanks of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) into smoking wrecks and transformed the inexorable advance on this Syrian town into a rout. Firas Kharaba, 39, the leader of Liwa al-Kassas, or “Retribution brigade”, who was returning wounded fighters for treatment in Turkey, provided a first-hand, account of the epic battle for the town has become an acid test of the ability of US-led air strikes to defeat Isil in Iraq and Syria.
This weekend, after almost two weeks of aerial attacks Isil has begun to to flee the Syrian border town, that they had been on the brink of capturing.
At first the air strikes had appeared to make little difference and for days the jihadists advance had continued into the centre of the Kurdish town.
The crucial turning point, Mr Kharaba said, the US airforce destroyed a building where Isil leaders had been meeting, killing everyone inside.
“About thirty major fighters were killed and some commanders,” said Mr Kharaba, adding that some Syrians loyal to his group had infiltrated Isil to act as spies. With its best men gone, Mr Kharaba said, Isil has been forced to call on a “police division” – men who manage the law and order of Isil territories but with little experience of front line battles – to come to Kobane.
And without equipment that could be targeted from the air, the jihadists were forced to resort to the same guerrilla tactics used by their opponents.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
KNOWLEDGE OF THE TERRAIN AND THE LOCALITIES WAS KEY...
knowledge of the town’s layout became key, and in this the Kurdish fighters, many of who are from Kobane, have the upper hand.
By contrast many of Isil’s fighters are foreigners unfamiliar with the streets and alleys.
Locals said they fought Tunisians, Moroccans and Saudi Arabians as well as Syrians in the Isil teams.
Epic? Epic?
Obola deeply saddened...oh well, nothing like a game of golf to raise the spirits!
All right - a good day for promotions!
Stalingrad
Olly North said this battle was just a diversion so they could group and plan to take Baghdad. Time will tell.
I don’t think it means what they think it means.
This is a feint.
When you are fighting on the ground in your home town, every battle is probably pretty epic.
B-1’s have been carrying out air strikes over Kobane. Obama has finally gotten somewhat serious.
Only if someone’s writing an narrative extended poem about it. Now the Siege of Troy, that was an epic battle!
From the article:
“Mr Kharaba described to the Telegraph being just metres from the air strike’s targets, and knowing he was safe: “They are incredibly accurate. If the Americans wanted to put a rocket in someone’s eye, even from hundreds of meters in the air, they could.”
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