A boy uses a mobile phone to photograph the western outskirts of Kobani, Syria, in the distance, as he stands on a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Sunday. Kobani and its surrounding areas have been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and are being defended by Kurdish fighters. | AP
World
Jihadists believed taking heavy losses in battle for Syria’s Kobani
AFP-JIJI
Oct 20, 2014
Article history
MURSITPINAR, TURKEY – The Islamic State group was taking heavy losses in the Syrian battleground of Kobani Sunday as Iraqi forces fought the jihadists buoyed by U.S. backing for top government security appointments.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the appointment of defense and interior ministers after weeks of delay was a “very positive step forward” in the fightback against Islamic State in Iraq, which Washington has made its priority.
But U.S.-led warplanes launched 11 airstrikes near Kobani on Saturday and Sunday, U.S. Central Command said, helping the town’s Kurdish defenders to repulse a new attempt to cut their supply lines into Turkey.
The Kurdish fighters, who have been under Islamic State assault for more than a month, weathered fierce street fighting and at least two jihadist suicide bombings but the front line remained unchanged on Sunday, a Kurdish official said.
“(Islamic State) brought in reinforcements … and attacked hard,” Idris Nassen told AFP by telephone.
“But thanks to airstrikes and (the Kurdish fighters’) response, they did not make any progress.” The Islamic State fighters suffered heavy losses in Kobani, which has become a key prize as it is being fought under the gaze of the world’s press massed just over the border in Turkey.
From Saturday into Sunday morning, a total of 31 jihadists died in the battle, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Coalition airstrikes near Kobani hit 20 Islamic State fighting positions, five Islamic State vehicles and two jihadist-held buildings, said Central Command, with the Observatory adding that they killed 15 jihadists.
Clashes on the ground killed another 16 jihadists and seven Kurdish fighters, said the Britain-based observatory, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria.
A steady flow of bodies from the Kobani fighting arrived at an Islamic State-controlled hospital farther east, the observatory said.
The corpses of at least 70 jihadists had been brought into the mortuary in the town of Tal Abyad in the past four days. The U.S. military has said it sees “encouraging” signs in the battle for Kobani, although it warns the town may still fall.
On Sunday the White House said President Barack Obama called his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and that they pledged to “strengthen cooperation” against Islamic State in Syria.
But U.S .commanders have said repeatedly the main priority remains the battle against Islamic State in neighboring Iraq, where the jihadists swept through much of the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad in June.
The minority community’s grievances against the Shiite led-government were a major factor in the lightning advance and Washington has been piling pressure on Baghdad to form an inclusive government capable of mounting a fightback.
On Saturday, the remaining posts in a new government lineup were finally approved by parliament, including a Sunni as defense minister and a Shiite as interior minister.
“These were critical positions to be filled, in order to assist with the organising effort” against Islamic State, the U.S. top diplomat said. “So we’re very pleased.”
With Washington voicing approval, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s office announced that he is to head to Tehran on Monday to discuss the fightback with his other key ally.
Washington has acknowledged that Tehran has an important role to play in the battle against Islamic State, although it has kept the main Shiite power out of the coalition it has forged against the jihadists for fear of alienating Sunnis.
Abadi’s talks in Iran are part of his bid “to unite the efforts of the region and the world to help Iraq in its war against the terrorist group,” his office said.
Although it has not been part of the U.S.-led coalition, Tehran has been a key backer of Abadi’s government in its efforts to hold back the jihadist advance.
According to a senior Iraqi Kurdish official, it has deployed troops on the Iraqi side of the border in the Khanaqin area northeast of Baghdad.
Iranian forces also played a role in the Shiite Turkmen town of Amerli, where security forces and allied militiamen broke a months-long jihadist siege at the end of August, another senior Kurdish official has said.
Evidence also indicates that Iran sent Sukhoi Su-25 ground attack jets to Iraq, though it is unclear who subsequently piloted the aircraft.
As well as Syria, the U.S.-led coalition is carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, including 10 on Saturday and Sunday. It has also deployed military advisers.
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