ISIS fighters have attacked the border city of Kobane, which had been liberated by a Kurdish offensive and supportive coalition airstrikes in January.
Reports say there have already been multiple casualties in a village near Kobane, including the slaughter of Syrian Kurdish women and children.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIS attacked after 5 a.m. “from three directions inside the city.”
“Displaced people from the village of Barkh Botan informed SOHR that IS executed some citizens from the village.”
“During intense fighting near the city’s border gate at least 15 attackers have been confirmed killed, while a member of the terrorists has been captured alive,” the Kurdish YPG forces said in a statement a few hours ago. “For now, clashes continue within an extent where the terrorists encounter a total blockade by the Defense Units.”
A major source of anger today was exactly how ISIS attacked.
Word quickly spread that ISIS attacked the border city from the Turkish side of the border. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç called the claims “lies.”
Figen Yuksekdağ, the co-leader of the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) that stunned the Islamist AKP party in parliamentary elections, said Ankara has “supported ISIL for years. Today’s massacre is a part of this support.”
A YPG spokesman told the Telegraph that “the primary information and the eye witnesses say that they entered from Turkey but officially we don’t have confirmed information yet.”
Later, that same spokesman told Reuters that the attackers entered the town from the west, not the north, and were also disguised in Free Syrian Army uniforms. “They opened fire randomly on everyone they found,” he said.
Another activists in the city told the Telegraph that not only did ISIS cross into Kobane from Turkey, but were disguised in YPG uniforms.
The Obama administration have hailed Kobane as a success story in the battle against ISIS. In April, Vice President Joe Biden said Kobane was “proving ISIL can be beaten inside of Syria, as well.”
Ok Turkey, explain how ISIS suicide trucks can come from Jarablus to Kobanê without a bridge to cross the river? pic.twitter.com/1lNaBjLVf0
— Hamo (@KekHamo) June 25, 2015
Civilian inside Kobani says ISIS went house to house shooting people this morning, no one dared leave their home — Emma Graham-Harrison (@_EmmaGH) June 25, 2015
ISIS enters #Kobane from Turkish side. Turkey prevents injured from crossing #TerroristTurkey http://t.co/ePr1aqdIB8 pic.twitter.com/7Ej2IxG62Y — Baghdad Invest (@baghdadinvest) June 25, 2015
Sources say 5 separate groups of ISIS entered #Kobane from Turkey, blew vehicles, entered houses& shot civilians dead pic.twitter.com/k1jFXjJDtz
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) June 25, 2015
Kurdish activists heading towards the border with Kobane again to stop Turkey’s support to ISIS Shame on you Turkey! pic.twitter.com/dHq3i5UZa6
— Nurcan Baysal (@baysal_nurcan) June 25, 2015
“Killing innocent children in their bed”. That’s what ISIS did in Kobane after Turkey allowed them to cross border. pic.twitter.com/Xo2QJZk0fJ
— Amed News Agency (@AJANSAMED) June 25, 2015
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