Kurdish official: ISIS and their flag gone from Kobane

KOBANE—Islamist militants have been pushed out of Kobane and fighters of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) are now in control of the town, a Kurdish official in Kobane told Rudaw.

“There is no ISIS in Kobane now,” said Omar Alush, co-chair of the TEV-DEM movement in Kobane.

Alush said that following the recent air strikes on positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in Kobane, the YPG managed to drive the rest of the jihadis out of town and that they are now in control.

“YPG fighters are now searching the homes for bombs and explosives that the Islamist militants might have left behind,” said Alush.

IS militants laid siege to the Kurdish town of Kobane on the Turkish-Syrian border last month, pounding the town with heavy artillery and tanks.

With support from US air strikes, the YPG held the town and eventually managed to turn the tide against the IS.

“Kobane is quiet now and the flag of ISIS is gone,” Alush maintained.

Alush said that the jihadis still hold Kani Arab and Gire Mishtanur, close to Kobane.

“Fighting is still going on between the ISIS and YPG on the eastern outskirts of the town,” he said.

Alush said that the air strikes were effective in pushing back the militants, however, he said, the coalition forces should cut off the ISIS supply route from other parts of Syria “because we have information that the group is preparing for another assault on Kobane.”

Seems that way. I wonder if any of our operatives are on the ground inside Kobane, perhaps doing the FAC themselves, or perhaps teaching the Kurds? I sure hope so. It seems like we solved the problem of target identification for bomb delivery in a confused built-up area.

Imagine being the hypothetical American on the ground there with the Kurds. Big brass ones on that guy for sure. And he can’t even brag about it when he gets home. And 20 years from now at the VFW, nobody will believe him.

Buy that guy a drink, and make it a double.

The Turks are deeply saddened. They were hoping ISIS would help solve their Kurdish “problem” in the area. Much like Stalin kept his troops from entering Warsaw so that the Germans could take care of the Polish patriots who were rising up against them in anticipation of the Russians arrival. The Turks are not our friends and should never be part of the EU. They should also be kicked out of NATO, not that NATO is good for much of anything anymore.

The Turks are not our friends and should never be part of the EU.

For decades after WWII, the Germans were using cheap Turkish labor much as American agrobusiness was using Mexicans. When the Turks started demanding the bennies of German citizenship, perhaps the idea of incorporating Turkey within the EU was that they could build factories in Turkey, take the money, and keep them at home.

Then too I suspect EU membership was dangled in front of the Turks to use them as a military buffer against the Soviets. Either way, Germany has swallowed a substantial Trojan horse of German speaking Turks within its borders.

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