[While there is a quantum jump in the airstrikes today carried out by the US-led alliance in Kobane - 3 on 12th, 6 on 13th and 21 on 14th, Turkey is constantly dragging its feet as regards allowing its air bases to be used by the alliance to carry out operations against the ISIS; not only that, it has reportedly carried out lethal air attacks against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - a major force fighting the ISIS, targets near Iraq border. All in all, the Kurds in Kobane have been able to take back the strategic Tall Shair hill after ceding it 10 days back.]
I/III. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29611673 14 October 2014 Last updated at 16:42I Islamic State crisis: Kurds 'recapture key Kobane hill' Tall Shair was recaptured after US-led air attacks targeting IS in and around the town of Kobane *Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State (IS) say they have recaptured a strategically important hilltop west of Kobane on Syria's border with Turkey.* The advance came as the US said it had conducted 21 air strikes near the town, slowing down the IS advance. Tall Shair hill had been captured more than 10 days ago by IS militants. Later on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama will host talks with military chiefs from more than 20 countries on how to combat IS in Syria and Iraq. Correspondents say this is the first time such high-ranking military officials from so many countries have come together since the US-led coalition was formed last month. In a separate development, Turkish warplanes on Monday bombed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebel targets in Hakkari province near the Iraqi border, causing "heavy casualties", Turkish media report. If confirmed, this would be the first major air raid by Turkey on the PKK since a ceasefire was reached in March 2013. Tens of thousands of Syrians, most of them Kurds, have fled Kobane in the past month On Tuesday sources in the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) told the BBC that they had regained control of Tall Shair hill-top, about 4km (2.5 miles) to the west and near an informal border crossing. In a statement the US military said Tuesday's air strikes had destroyed IS buildings and military vehicles. The statement said the security situation on the ground "remains fluid with IS attempting to gain territory and Kurdish militia continuing to hold out". One fighter battling IS in Kobane: 'There is no time for sleep' The battle for Kobane, a predominantly Kurdish town, has lasted for a month and emerged as a major test of whether the coalition's air campaign can push back IS. Two weeks of air strikes against IS targets in and around Kobane have allowed Kurdish fighters to slow the jihadists' advance, but Turkish and Western leaders have warned that the town is still likely to fall. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, reported that IS carried out three separate suicide bomb attacks. Shia militias have been at the forefront of the fight against IS in Iraq One IS suicide bomber blew up an explosives-filled vehicle in the north of the town, near the border, while the second targeted an eastern area, it said. Later, a third bomber attacked a YPG position in the north-east. The Observatory said it believed IS now controlled about half of Kobane. Capturing the town, from which more than 160,000 people have fled, would give the group unbroken control of a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border. Meanwhile at least 10 Syrian soldiers were killed on Tuesday in fighting against IS militants in the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Syrian Observatory said. The fighting took place near Deir Ezzor military airport, one of the last government-controlled outposts in the province. Deir Ezzor has been a key target of air strikes by the US-led coalition fighting against IS. [image: Timeline showing airstrikes in Iraq and Syria] II/III. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/10/13/355826418/u-s-strikes-at-isis-in-kobani-as-kurds-claim-progress U.S. Strikes At ISIS In Kobani As Kurds Claim Progress by Bill Chappell <http://www.npr.org/people/14562108/bill-chappell> October 13, 201410:42 AM ET The besieged city of Kobani, Syria, has seen an increase in air strikes and fighting, with Kurdish fighters in the area saying they've stopped the extremist group ISIS from advancing. As the U.S.-led coalition carried out strikes on areas east and south of Kobani, new reports emerged about Turkey's role in supporting the fight against ISIS. U.S. officials said this weekend that Turkey had agreed to let the coalition use its bases to strike ISIS. But on Monday, a Turkish official tells the AP that "there is no new agreement with the United States on using an air base in southern Turkey," the news agency says <http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4d212169b8c34bbcb47a18f942fe7aac/fierce-fighting-resumes-syrian-kurdish-town> . On Friday, the U.S. State Department announced that Turkey would train and equip a moderate opposition in Syria to help fight ISIS. Turkey's discussions of joining that fight have often included a call for a no-fly buffer zone along its border with Syria. NATO officials have been reluctant to add the idea of "safe havens" to the situation along the border. Today, Kurdish fighters who are trying to defend the city of Kobani are saying they've made advances against ISIS, a claim that was echoed by a monitoring group. U.N. officials have warned of a potential massacre if the city falls. The European Union will send nearly $5 million in emergency humanitarian aid to groups helping refugees from Kobani. >From Brussels, Teri Schultz reports for NPR's Newscast unit: "Expressing 'deep concern' over the situation, the EU says the people of Kobane have shown the international community they are resolved 'to use all means to protect their own rights and values and to resist oppression.'" On Sunday, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he believes that a looming battle for Mosul might prove to be a pivotal clash in the fight against ISIS. It would be a ground conflict, Gen. Martin Dempsey said <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/dempsey-us-attack-helicopters-baghdad-26140738>, and it might require the participation of U.S. advisers. III. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/horror-of-kobani-headless-corpses-left-in-the-street-and-victims-with-their-eyes-cut-out-the-savagery-of-isis-laid-bare-9791199.html Horror of Kobani: Headless corpses left in the street and victims with their eyes 'cut out', the savagery of Isis laid bare Refugees in Suruc, Turkey, have spoken of the atrocities witnessed in KobaniJAMES RUSH Monday 13 October 201 Survivors of the fighting in Kobani have spoken of the horrors they witnessed as Isis militants took control of parts of the town from Kurdish forces. Refugees in Suruc, Tukey, have told The Daily Mail how relatives and neighbours were beheaded by the militants, while another spoke of how he had seen "hundreds" of decapitated corpses in the besieged town. On Friday, the UN Syria envoy warned the hundreds still trapped in Kobani will be "massacred" by militants if the town falls, where only a small corridor remains open for people to flee. More than 200,000 have already escaped across the border to Turkey but up to 700 remain inside the town. The battle for the Syrian town has also sparked major protests in Turkey against its perceived inaction. Kurdish protesters have repeatedly clashed with security forces, leaving at least 31 people, including two police officers, dead. Amin Fajar, 38, a father-of-four who left Kobani and made it across the border and into Suruc, told The Daily Mail: "I have seen tens, maybe hundreds, of bodies with their heads cut off. "Others with just their hands or legs missing. I have seen faces with their eyes or tongues cut out - I can never forget it for as long as I live." Isis militants have laid siege to the town of Kobani for nearly four weeks and fought their way into it in recent days. They have reportedly taken control of almost half of the town. Belal Shahin, another Kobani refugee in Suruc, told MSNBC: "Isis came into the villages. They beheaded people as well as animals. They took animals and girls; they left nothing. Even animals don't do what Isis are doing. They are doing these things and it's not acceptable. "But the whole world has blocked their ears in order not to hear. And they've become dumb. There's nothing to stop them." As night fell on Sunday, the town centre of Kobani was under heavy artillery and mortar fire, Ocalan Iso, deputy head of the Kobani defence council, told Reuters. Heavy clashes were under way in the east and southeast, he said, with neither side gaining ground. Idris Nassan, deputy foreign minister in the Kurdish administration for the Kobani district, said heavy fighting had begun around nightfall in the streets. Kurdish fighters had caught attackers in an ambush, he said. Kurdish refugees fleeing Kobani enter Turkey at Suruc After days of advances by Isis, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Kobani's Kurdish defenders had managed to hold their ground. The Observatory said 36 Islamic State fighters, all foreigners, were killed the previous day, while eight Kurdish fighters had died. The figures could not be independently verified. The news comes as a video emerged over the weekend apparently showing fighting in the streets of Kobani. *The Independent* has not been able to independently verify the video, but Isis expert Shiraz Maher, a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College London, said it appeared to have been made for "propaganda purposes, ostensibly demonstrating the group's strength and prowess." A Turkish official today said there was no new agreement with the United States on using an air base in southern Turkey for operations against the Islamic State group. Turkey and the US are still talking about the Incirlik air base as well as Turkish demands for the creation of a no-fly zone and a safe haven for refugees, the government official told the Associated Press. On Sunday, United States defence officials said Turkey would let US and coalition forces use its bases against Islamic State militants. *Additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press* -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
