ERBIL/SYRIAN-TURKISH BORDER – A combined force of Syrian fighters and Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga have launched a new offensive near the besieged border town of Kobane, attacking Islamic State positions in villages west of the city, according to Peshmerga officers involved.
A US-coalition airstrike hit an Islamic State (ISIS) target in the western outskirts of Kobane at approximately 3:30 am on Monday, paving the way for a new attack on militant-controlled areas.
The main combat force involved is the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), but they were accompanied by Peshmerga operating heavy weapons as well as a small number of Free Syrian Army (FSA) soldiers.
Fighting concentrated around four villages west of Kobane: Al Badour, Manaze, Arbosh, and Chigor.
Peshmerga officers told Rudaw that as of Monday afternoon they have yet to control any of the villages, but were making steady progress.
Syrian YPG forces held out against ISIS fighters for two weeks without outside assistance before coalition airstrikes began hitting ISIS vehicles and positions around the town. They waited another six weeks before FSA and Peshmerga fighters joined them on the ground.
Since the Peshmerga arrived with much needed heavy weapons, the combined anti-ISIS force of approximately 2,000 fighters have started to reverse gains made by the 3,000-4,000 Islamic State militants in the area.
A US-coalition airstrike hit an Islamic State (ISIS) target in the western outskirts of Kobane at approximately 3:30 am on Monday, paving the way for a new attack on militant-controlled areas.
The main combat force involved is the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), but they were accompanied by Peshmerga operating heavy weapons as well as a small number of Free Syrian Army (FSA) soldiers.
Fighting concentrated around four villages west of Kobane: Al Badour, Manaze, Arbosh, and Chigor.
Peshmerga officers told Rudaw that as of Monday afternoon they have yet to control any of the villages, but were making steady progress.
Syrian YPG forces held out against ISIS fighters for two weeks without outside assistance before coalition airstrikes began hitting ISIS vehicles and positions around the town. They waited another six weeks before FSA and Peshmerga fighters joined them on the ground.
Since the Peshmerga arrived with much needed heavy weapons, the combined anti-ISIS force of approximately 2,000 fighters have started to reverse gains made by the 3,000-4,000 Islamic State militants in the area.
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