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Renewed assault on Kobani; 21 dead in Turkey as Kurds rise
Reuters ^ | Wed Oct 8, 2014 5:24pm EDT | Daren Butler and Jonny Hogg

Posted on 10/08/2014 4:07:52 PM PDT by keat

(Reuters) - Islamic State fighters launched a renewed assault on the Syrian city of Kobani on Wednesday night, and at least 21 people were killed in riots in neighboring Turkey where Kurds rose up against the government for doing nothing to protect their kin.

Heavily outgunned defenders said Islamic State militants had pushed into two districts of the mainly Kurdish border city late on Wednesday, despite U.S.-led air strikes that the Pentagon acknowledged would probably not be enough to safeguard the town.

In Turkey, street battles raged between Kurdish protesters and police across the mainly Kurdish southeast, in Istanbul and in Ankara, as fallout from war in Syria and Iraq threatened to unravel the NATO member's own delicate Kurdish peace process.

Washington said its war planes, along with those of coalition ally the United Arab Emirates, had struck nine targets in Syria, including six near Kobani that hit Islamic State artillery and armored vehicles. It also struck Islamic State positions in Iraq five times.

Nevertheless, Kobani remained under intense bombardment from Islamic State emplacements, within sight of Turkish tanks at the nearby frontier that have so far done nothing to help.

"Tonight, (Islamic State) has entered two districts with heavy weapons including tanks. Civilians may have died because there are very intense clashes," Asya Abdullah, co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Kurdish group defending the area, told Reuters from inside the town.

U.S. officials were quoted voicing impatience with the Turks for refusing to join the coalition against Islamic State fighters who have seized wide areas of Syria and Iraq.

Turkey says it could join only if Washington agrees to use force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Sunni Muslim jihadists fighting him in a three-year-old civil war.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Syria
KEYWORDS: iran; kobane; kobani; kurdistan; lebanon; syria; turkey
Final battle for Kobani may be underway.
1 posted on 10/08/2014 4:07:52 PM PDT by keat
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To: keat

So, just as I suspected, the Turks view the Kurds as their primary enemy. ISIS is simply a group they support on the QT in order to destabilize Syria.

For anyone not aware, Turkey is now being led by an Islamist government. The Turks are NOT friends of the United States or the West.


2 posted on 10/08/2014 4:11:12 PM PDT by House Atreides (ANOTHER CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN FOR CHILDERS 2014 .... Don't reward bad GOPe behavior.)
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To: keat

Turkey and NATO has joined ISIS,
the terrorist children of Obola and McCain.

WWIII?


3 posted on 10/08/2014 4:12:02 PM PDT by Diogenesis (The EXEMPT Congress is complicit in the absence of impeachment)
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To: House Atreides
All true and all transparently obvious. The US govt is deliberately colluding with the Islamists, both Erdogan and his myrmidons in ISIS. We are led by a traitorous regime.
4 posted on 10/08/2014 4:25:36 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: keat

Before the Kurd is wiped off the planet Obola will pardon Turkey. McInsane will be around for leftovers.


5 posted on 10/08/2014 4:31:00 PM PDT by PGalt
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