Syria activists say Kobani death toll passes 800

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By ELENA BECATOROS and BASSEM MROUE

MURSITPINAR, Turkey (AP) — A Syrian activist group said Sunday that the death toll in 40 days of fighting in and around the northern Syrian border town of Kobani has reached 815, as Kurdish fighters battled Muslim militants for a hill west of the town.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll includes 21 Kurdish civilians and 302 fighters with the main Kurdish force known as the Peoples Protection Units, or YPG. It said 481 fighters with the Islamic State group have been killed since the battles began.

IS fighters launched a wide offensive on Kobani in mid-September capturing dozens of Kurdish villages and entering parts of the town. The attack has displaced more than 200,000 people who crossed for safety in Turkey.

On Saturday, IS launched an attack on a Kurdish-held neighborhood in Kobani without succeeding in advancing, the Observatory said. It added that seven IS fighters were killed as well as several YPG fighters.

FULL story at link.



Smoke rises above the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike by the US led coalition, seen from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, Turkey, near the Turkey-Syria border, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20141026/ml--syria-e082e134e5.html

[rollin74]

1. ISIS has been steadily losing ground in Kobani

I have so much respect for the Kurdish YPG fighters

They were outgunned and have been without reinforcements and are still holding that town despite constant waves of ISIS fighters sent from elsewhere

[CJCRANE]

2. It's all pretty much open desert around there

so I can't understand why we can't take out the ISIS convoys when they're on the open road.

It all seems very piecemeal.

[rollin74]

3. I agree. it seems like more could be done from the air to hit ISIS as they advance

though there have been recent reports of ISIS reinforcements hit by air strikes and I think ISIS has shifted away from moving in large convoys of vehicles toward Kobani

aside from that, I don't know why more can't be done to stop the daily waves of attack

maybe it's easier to hit them all once they gather in one place

ISIS has lost a lot of fighters in Kobani and still can't capture it after 42 days. It's becoming a bit of a disaster for them.

[ballyhoo]

4. Who is ISIS? Who owns ISIS? Does it help

predominately the second group who makes money on continuing war to have ISIS defeated? Let's all view ISIS again 30 days after the election. Yes, something is very strange here.

[GGJohn]

5. CT crap not welcomed here.

[ballyhoo]

6. ISIS will try again tonight. The Iraqi Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters will come

to reinforce them. The gateway has to hold or there is no way for the Kurdish fighters in Kobani to cross into Turkey, which is why ISIS has sacrificed so many fighters.

[rollin74]

7. ISIS has been trying every night

relying more and more on VBIEDs to lead the advance. Many of those VBIEDs are failing to reach their intended target area before being stopped or destroyed

lately ISIS seems to be losing ground, not gaining

I'm not holding my breath on Turkey ever allowing peshmerga to enter and fight in Kobani

[ballyhoo]

8. Good point. But I think they will--even more. They can do it

now, but it is by a circuitous route from what my friend The Turk says. Yeah, too many VBIEDS and you've reached desperation. I hope Kobani holds. It looks like a nice little town. I got nothing against Syrians, but I don't like Erdoğan, plus I think he is working for the enemy either directly or indirectly and stealthily.

[AtomicDryad]

9. Erdogan's blatantly obvious

This wouldn't be the first sunni islamist/jihadist group that Turkey supports. I think Erdogan realizes ISIS is too much of a hot potato, but that isn't stopping him from taking advantage of the situation. ISIS is perfectly in line with his foreign ambitions. He wants Assad to go down past the point of rationality, and the Rojava revolution to be crushed.

[ballyhoo]

10. Looks that way, AtomicDryad. Good post...

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