KOBANE, Syria - Turkish military are scuffling with journalists and observers after an attempt to remove them from a hill overlooking the Syrian border town of Kobane, according to a Rudaw team at the scene.
Military vehicles swept into the area on Sunday, ordering all present on the viewpoint, approximately 1.5 kilometers northwest of the city, to another hill about 500 meters further north where the eastern and western sides of the city are harder to see.
While most international media decamped to the new area, a small number of individuals refused to leave despite Turkish orders, leading to a physical altercation.
Journalists and observers, many of whom have relatives still on the Syrian side of the border, have positioned themselves on the hill since the Islamic State began their offensive against the city in mid-September.
The Rudaw team on the Turkish border reported three rounds of coalition airstrikes in Kobane beginning Saturday between 10pm and 2 am. There was also fighting east and south of the city, giving way to relative calm on Sunday morning.
Fighting erupted again on Sunday between ISIS and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian Kurdish force defending the city, when coalition airplanes bombed an ISIS target at approximately 12:30pm.
Two large pillars of smoke rose above the city on Sunday afternoon. One was the result of the airstrike in the ISIS-controlled eastern part of the city. The much larger plume rose from western neighborhoods held by the YPG following a militant attack.
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