Eurasia Press & News
Kurdish forces have managed to repel Islamic State militants from part of the besieged Syrian town of Kobane, various Kurdish sources said on Thursday.
A Kurdish official in Kobane said that US-led airstrikes had successfully pushed back Islamic State insurgents from parts of the town and had allowed Kurdish fighters to regroup and go on the offensive for the first time.
“The international coalition has fought [Islamic State] more effectively during the last few days,” the official said.
“Before they [IS] were in control of 30 per cent of Kobane and now they control less than 20 per cent thanks to the international coalition,” he said.
The source added that Kurdish forces were “flushing out” IS fighters from the eastern and southeastern parts of the town that have seen some of the fiercest fighting.
Kobane-based Kurdish sources also told the Times of London that “things are going a lot better.”
“They [IS] withdrew without any fight in the west, and we’re advancing slowly,” Mahmoud, one of the YPG defenders said via telephone.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from the Turkish town of Urfu, overlooking Kobane, also confirmed that the situation had seemingly calmed after weeks of fierce clashes.
“For the weeks we’ve been here, we have been reporting gunfire and artillery fire. This stopped today,” Smith said.
“There has been no artillery fire and hardly no gunfire, which have been replaced by the sound of air strikes. The attacks have had a real impact on [Islamic State’s] ability to gain ground in Kobane.”
In Washington, the US Central Command said intensified US-led airstrikes have inflicted heavy damage on IS near Kobane as part of its effort to prevent it from taking over the key Syrian city on the Turkish border.
Using bomber and fighter aircraft, the US conducted 14 airstrikes.
