September 19, 2014
The Syrian Kurdish town
of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic) is an island, surrounded by ISIS on
three fronts and the Turkish border to the north.
The town was already
mostly blockaded by ISIS, but in the past three days some 60 nearby
villages fell under ISIS control, according to the London-based Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,
or "Islamic State," as the group calls itself, took 39 villages on
Friday alone as Kurdish forces withdrew from their positions, the
Observatory said.
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Clashes are constant
around Kobani as Kurdish fighters attempt to hold off ISIS, which is
armed with heavy artillery and tanks, Kurdish activist Mostafa Baly told
CNN.
"Mobilization of people
in Kobani is not enough," said Redur Xelil, a spokesman for the Kurdish
fighters. "The international community has to take action. If not, there
will be a new (Sinjar) genocide, but this time in Kobani."
Sinjar is the Iraqi city
that came under ISIS attack last month, causing thousands to flee onto
adjacent Mount Sinjar, where refugees became stranded and were starving
before U.S. airstrikes helped pave a way for them to flee.
The fighting around Kobani has been intense for four days, Xelil told CNN.
Masoud Barzani, the
President of the Kurdish Region in Iraq, called the ISIS attacks in
northern Syria "barbaric" and described them as ethnic cleansing.
"I ask the international
community to take every measure as soon as possible to save Kobani and
the people of Syrian Kurdistan from the terrorists," he said in a
statement. "The ISIS terrorists perpetrate crimes and atrocities
wherever they are, therefore they have to be hit and defeated wherever
they are."
As ISIS encroached on
the nearby villages, residents fled toward Kobani, said Baly, the
Kurdish activist. There were reports that ISIS kidnapped some of those
fleeing to Kobani, including women, children and the elderly, Baly said.
At least three rockets landed in Kobani, causing much panic, he said.
"There is a great deal
of fear, but people are insisting on standing up to ISIS and remaining
steadfast in the face of their attack," he said.
Turkey opens border
The fear of a
humanitarian crisis in Kobani rose as displaced people sought refuge
there but became trapped between the fighting and the Turkish border.
An estimated 3,000 to
4,000 Kurds fleeing the violence walked right up to the wire border
fence with Turkey, where they initially were not allowed in. They just
sat at the border as Turkish Kurds on the other side of the fence tried
to persuade the Turkish guards to let them in.
The situation on the
border could be observed on a live feed from the border and from video
footage aired on Turkish news outlets.
The refugees also tried to force their way into Turkey, creating chaos as one woman stepped on a landmine.
Turkey finally opened
the border, relieving some of the mounting pressure in Kobani and
allowing refugees to enter Sanliurfa province.
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"Four thousand of our
siblings will be hosted in our country," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu told state media. "Opening our arms to our Syrian brothers is
our historic humanitarian responsibility."
Hosting Syrian refugees is nothing new for Turkey and other neighboring nations. About 815,000 registered Syrian refugees were in Turkey as of last month, part of the 3 million total registered Syrian refugees that the U.N. has counted amid Syria's three-year civil war.
A further 6.5 million people were believed to be displaced within Syria as of last month, according to the U.N.
U.S. military on deck
The U.S. Senate on
Thursday voted overwhelmingly to approve the arming of Syrian rebels as
top U.S. military leadership approved a plan to strike ISIS in Syria.
The House approved Obama's request Wednesday.
The approval allows
President Barack Obama to carry out part of his stated strategy to
combat ISIS, though some political leaders remain divided on the way
forward.
With approval in hand to
arm and train Syrian rebels to fight ISIS, Obama said Thursday the plan
keeps with "the key principle" of U.S. strategy: No American combat
troops on the ground.
"The American troops
deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission," he said in
televised remarks from the White House.
"Their mission is to
advise and assist our partners on the ground. ... We can destroy ISIL
without having our troops fight another ground war in the Middle East."
Obama said more than 40 countries, including Arab nations, have offered assistance in the battle against ISIS.
Long vetting and training process
National Security
Adviser Susan Rice, speaking to reporters Friday, said that now that
approval to arm moderate Syrian rebels has been given, a long process
will start to vet and train those who will be benefit from the measure.
U.S. military personnel
will train the Syrian fighters outside of Syria, and the process of
planning the training and vetting the participants will take months, she
said.
"This is a serious training program, and we are serious about vetting those we are training and equipping," she said.
Rice stepped around
questions about whether airstrikes against ISIS in Syria will require an
additional thumbs-up from President Obama, repeating the President's
own announcement that the United States is "prepared" to broaden its
actions in the region into Syria.
ISIS videos
The advance by ISIS in
northern Syria comes as the Islamist group released a 55-minute
English-language video warning America against "direct confrontation."
The video describes the conflict as a fight between believers and nonbelievers, and praises its successes on the battlefield.
Earlier this week, ISIS
released another video showing a captive British journalist criticizing
the American and British governments.
Citing the Sunni terror
group's brutality, from beheading civilians -- including American
journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff -- to the mass execution of
its opponents, Obama said the United States will not back down.
"With their barbaric
murder of two Americans, these terrorists thought they could frighten us
or intimidate us or cause us to shrink from the world," Obama said.
"But today, they are
learning the same hard lesson of petty tyrants and terrorists who have
gone before: As Americans, we do not give in to fear. When you harm our
citizens, when you threaten the United States, when you threaten our
allies, it doesn't frighten us. It unites us."
The question now appears to be not if, but when, the United States will strike ISIS in its stronghold in northern Syria.
The U.S. military has
everything it needs to strike ISIS targets in Syria, a plan that
officials told CNN is still waiting on Obama's signoff.
ISIS, meanwhile, is
modifying its behavior, from the way it communicates to the way it
conceals itself, in response to potential U.S. airstrikes in Syria, U.S.
military officials told CNN.
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