ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— Dozens of extremists infiltrated into Kobani and collaborated with the Islamic State, or ISIS, in Thursday’s brutal attack on the Kurdish city of Kobani in Syria which left at least 145 civilians dead, witnesses have come forward to tell Rudaw.
Disguised as Kurdish fighters and members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), ISIS infiltrators passed through Kurdish checkpoints unhindered in what appeared to be a calculated plan to kill as many local people as possible, according to Rudaw’s Omar Kalo.
“They spoke fluent Kurdish and it was impossible to suspect that they could be ISIS collaborators,” said Kalo received the information from checkpoint security officers.
He said the alleged collaborators entered the city together with thousands of other refugees, mostly Kurds, who had left ISIS stronghold of Raqqa for safety in Kurdish-ruled areas in Kobani, some 140km to the north.
Earlier last week, ISIS issued an order for the Kurdish inhabitants of Raqqa to leave the city after “losing” Tal Abyad to Kurdish and FSA fighters in early June.
“ISIS might have used the refugee convoys as cover to bring in the deadly explosives and ammunition,” Kalo said, quoting Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
“They told me it had been impossible to question all refugees who came in their thousands,” he said referring to checkpoint security.
The recapture of Tal Abyad, known to Kurds as Gire Spi, by anti-ISIS forces in Syria marked a turning point in the fight against the militants who lost a crucial gateway to the outside world through neighboring Turkey.
Though categorically rejected by Ankara, reports have suggested that ISIS regularly used Tal Abyad for reinforcements and supplies from Turkey.
On Friday, hospital personnel in the Turkish border town of Pirsus told Rudaw dozens of wounded civilians from Kobani had received medical attention and staff were expecting to receive many more.
