ISIS Seizes Large Parts of Kobani as US Increases Strikes

US Strikes Not Stopping Continued ISIS Advance

The situation in the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic) continues to favor ISIS today, and the latest reports are that the Islamist faction has now seized more than a third of the town outright, and is continuing to take more all the time.

The latest ISIS push toward Kobani spans weeks of fighting, and has seen ISIS take over 350 Kurdish villages in the surrounding area, before finally forcing the Kurdish YPG militia back to the town itself, along the Turkish border.

Though the US maintains that the situation in Kobani is “not a priority” for their air war in Syria, indications are that US airstrikes have increased against ISIS around Kobani today.

The US has been striking ISIS forces around Kobani for quite some time, but Kurdish forces say it has been to little effect, and that ISIS continues to move forward irrespective of the bombardment.

The fall of Kobani has been seen as an inevitability for days now, and ISIS seems to believe the same thing, with reports this evening that some of the invasion force has fanned out around Kobani, trying to cut off the escape route of Kurdish fighters back into Turkey, believing those fighters would wind up crossing back into Syrian Kurdistan near Hasakeh and fight ISIS there.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.