Kurdish forces: Kobane is free

KOBANE BORDER—Kurdish forces inside Kobane said today that the city is now under full control and Islamic State (ISIS) militants have been driven out of all neighborhoods.

Muslih Zebari, a Peshmerga commander in Kobane told Rudaw that ISIS militants remain only in a small village attached to the city “And the Peshmerga and YPG fighters are already on their way there,”

“Retaking that village is easy and today all of Kobane will be free,” he said.

A strong ISIS force invaded Kobane in mid-September last year but a coalition of YPG fighters, Peshmerga and US airstrikes halted the radical group’s advance until it was liberated today.

Zebari said that the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and the Peshmerga are gearing up to drive out ISIS from several other villages in the outskirts of the city.

“In the fighting, an ISIS tank and lots of ammunition have fallen in the hands of the Kurdish forces,” Zebari added.

Zebari said that the only Kurdish casualties were a few soldiers with slight injuries.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the YPG fighters have killed more than 1,000 ISIS militants in the battle for Kobane.