IS retakes town on Syria-Turkey border
Kurds wait to cross into Turkey after they escaped from Kobane, when fighters of the Islamic State attacked. PHOTO | ILYAS AKENGIN |
What you need to know:
- Jihadists set off several bombs.
- A rights group says at least 35 civilians and Kurdish fighters were killed in the fierce fighting.
BEIRUT
The Islamic State group launched a two-pronged offensive in northern Syria after several setbacks, re-entering the symbolic battleground town of Kobane and seizing parts of the city of Hasakeh.
In southern Syria, an alliance of rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, also attacked government-held areas of the city of Daraa in another serious blow to the regime.
Analysts said the surprise IS assaults were aimed at diverting Kurdish forces after they scored a series of victories and advanced on the jihadists’ Syrian stronghold of Raqa.
Kobane, on the border with Turkey, became an important symbol in the battle against IS after the group launched a bid to take it last year. Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes waged a four-month battle to repel the group, finally securing the town in January.
But on Thursday, the jihadists returned, detonating a suicide car bomb near the border crossing adjacent to Kobane as they launched an assault. Hours later two more bombs exploded. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 35 civilians and Kurdish fighters were killed in the car bomb and subsequent fighting in the centre and south of the town, along with 22 IS militants. “The bodies of jihadists are littering the streets,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based monitor.
In a statement posted on jihadist forums, IS said its fighters set off several bombs around Kobane, and carried out multi-pronged attacks on several fronts in the surrounding countryside.
