Islamic State (IS) fighters seized control of one-third of the key Syrian border town of Kobane yesterday, as Turkey rejected sending in troops on its own against the militants.
IS militants advanced in the strategic town overnight, despite intensified US air strikes, as calls grew for ground action to support Kobane’s beleaguered Kurdish defenders.
However, after talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu said Ankara could not be expected to act alone.
Photo: AFP
“It’s not realistic to expect that Turkey will lead a ground operation on its own,” he said.
Kobane, whose Kurdish defenders have been holding out against a three-week siege by the militants, has become a crucial battleground and symbol of resistance to IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
The coalition carried out two fresh strikes early yesterday, a reporter across the border in Turkey said, as it continued a flurry of bombing raids on IS positions in and around the town.
Nearly 20 coalition bombing raids have hit near Kobane since Tuesday, but Washington said air strikes alone would not save it.
Turkey has come under fire for its inaction as the militants advance on its doorstep, with protests in Kurdish areas sparking clashes that claimed at least 22 lives and forced authorities to declare a curfew in six provinces.
Fierce street battles have been raging in Kobane since the militants breached its defenses earlier this week.
IS fighters pulled out of some areas on Wednesday, but have since renewed their offensive and seized more ground, a monitoring group said.
“Despite fierce resistance from the Kurdish forces, IS advanced during the night and controls more than a third of Kobane,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
US and coalition aircraft targeted IS fighters near the town on Wednesday, launching 14 attacks, the US military said.
The strikes destroyed five armed vehicles, an IS supply depot, a command centre, a logistics compound and eight occupied barracks, Central Command said.
Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, would be a major prize for the jihadists, giving them unbroken control of a long stretch of Syria’s border with Turkey.
After meeting defence chiefs on Wednesday, US President Barack Obama said the fight against IS would not be easy or short.
“Our strikes continue, alongside our partners. It remains a difficult mission,” Obama, flanked by the country’s most senior military officers, told reporters. “As I’ve indicated from the start, this is not something that is going to be solved overnight.”
US-led aircraft were hitting the IS group at every opportunity, but without a competent force on the ground to work with, there were limits to what could be accomplished by bombing from the air, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
Obama has dispatched retired US general John Allen, and the US pointman on Iraq, Brett McGurk, to Ankara to squeeze commitments from Turkey.
Ankara’s response has been complicated by concerns over-emboldening Kurdish separatists, who have waged a deadly insurgency in Turkey for the past three decades.
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