KOBANI. January 27 -- Kurdish forces have reclaimed the city of Kobane from the Islamic State (ISIS), according to Kurdish sources. A campaign was launched to push ISIS out of the nearly 350 villages surrounding the iconic northern Syrian town, local officials say. Losing Kobani after more than four months of intense fighting is a significant propaganda blow to ISIS. The group invested extensive military resources to capture the isolated town on the border with Turkey. "Daesh [ISIS] took most of the places it wanted in Syria and Iraq but could not capture Kobani," said Anwar Muslim, the prime minister of the self-ruled administration of Kobane, referring to the organisation by its Arabic name. This victory marks the beginning of the end for Daesh Kurdish forces have so far taken control of at least three villages in the southern surroundings of Kobani. It will be a highly challenging task for them to expel ISIS from the dozens of villages that dot the plains around the agricultural town. Coalition airstrikes on ISIS targets in Kobani's villages continued on Monday night, according to local sources, but the city of Kobani itself was quiet on Tuesday. Muslim said the local fighters in Kobani were capable of holding their ground and ISIS forces had been "seriously weakened". ISIS's defeat in Kobani further shatters the organisation's claims to invincibility, particularly as it coincides with the group's retreat from Kurdish and other Iraqi forces in northern and central Iraq. ISIS has not officially reacted to the Kurdish statements about its defeat in Kobani city proper. But many ISIS members took to social media to post messages of denial and support for fellow fighters in Kobani. One account that appeared to belong to an ISIL member or sympathiser posted a snapshot of tweets from international news outlets regarding Kurds' victory in Kobane and urged fellow ISIL members not to trust such reports. Kurdish officials in Kobani say they still have to "cleanse" the remnants of ISIS's presence in the city. "There are many mines and bombs planted around," said Idriss Naasan, the deputy foreign minister of Kobani's administration. "There are also many corpses of Daesh fighters that need to be removed." The final push against ISIS inside Kobani city occurred on Monday as Kurdish forces regained control of Kaniye Kurdan and Miktel neighbourhoods on the eastern edges of the city. The operation was aided by as many as 17 air strikes carried out by the US-led coalition on Sunday and Monday, according to an announcement from the US military. Following the victory in Kobani, images spread on social media of jubilant local forces dancing to the tune of Kurdish songs. Kurdish civilians in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and as far as Europe took to the streets to celebrate the "liberation" of Kobani - a city that has become a powerful symbol of resistance and nationalist aspirations for Kurds.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Thank you for choosing to make a difference through your donation. We appreciate your support.
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesCategories
All
Archives
April 2024
|