Kurdish forces drive IS out of Kobani in Syria

Kurdish forces have taken full control of the Syrian town of Kobani, driving out remaining Islamic State fighters to end a four-month battle that became a focal point of the international effort against the extremist Islamist group.

Monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian Kurdish YPG forces had retaken the town, close to the Turkish border, but were still proceeding carefully in the eastern outskirts where Islamic State had planted mines before fleeing.

“I can see the YPG flag flying over Kobani. There are the sounds of jets flying above,” said Tevfik Kanat, a Turkish Kurd who rushed to the border with hundreds of others, including refugees from Kobani, after hearing about the advance.

“People are dancing and singing, there are fireworks. Everyone feels a huge sense of relief,” he said.

Daily air strikes

US-led forces have carried out almost daily air strikes on Islamic State positions around the town, a frontline in the battle against the group that has captured large expanses of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate.

The fighting in and around Kobani drove tens of thousands of residents into Turkey and prompted Iraqi Kurdish forces known as peshmerga to travel to Syria to support the YPG after the US asked Ankara to let them join the fight.

The battle of Kobani is the only official example of US-led forces closely coordinating with a ground force to battle Islamic State.

The US says it wants to train and equip non-jihadist groups to fight Islamic State elsewhere in Syria but fighters say there is uncertainty surrounding the plans.

Islamic State still has fighters in hundreds of surrounding villages.

“The entire city is liberated. The clashes will start now in Kobani’s villages,” said Perwer Mohammed Ali, a journalist from the town who was at the frontline with the YPG.

An official in Kobani told reporters that half of the city had been completely destroyed and much of the rest had suffered damage.

Idris Nassan said the predominantly Kurdish town, known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, also lacked water, electricity, hospitals and food.

Reuters