Assault on Kobane

On July 2, 2014, following the conquer of Mosul and large regions of north-western Iraq, the Kurdish region of Kobanê (Arabic: عين العرب‎, Ayn Al-Arab) in central northern Syria bordering Turkey was viciously attacked by Islamic State aka ISIS forces with tanks and heavy weapons brought over from Iraq. According to Kurdish sources, ISIS has fired more than 3,000 mortars in four days.

In addition to the 200,000 people living in Kobane canton in peace time, there are currently at least the same number of refugees, mostly Kurds from other northern regions of Syria, taking shelter there.

The pattern and the involvement of Turkey follows what has been seen in the eastern part of Syrian Kurdistan since late 2012 with the Assault on Ras Al-Ayn. The border regions with Turkey both west and east of Kobane canton are already controlled by ISIS, including the border posts at Jarablus and Tal Abyad (see Syrian Military Maps). In an "urgent call" for help to the international community on July 6, the Kurdish National Congress (of Syrian Kurdistan) pointed out that the attackers are able to move freely across the border and in Turkey, while the army is turning a blind eye and wounded ISIS fighters are even treated in Turkish hospitals.

The deputy foreign relations minister of the Kobane canton, Idriss Nassan, detailed the offensive as follows:


 * IS began its offensive by first capturing the villages of Zor Mughar, Beyadi and Ziyarete, 40-45 kilometers (25-28 miles) west of Kobani. The YPG pushed IS out of these villages after hard-fought battles. IS left behind more than 100 dead, a Humvee, a tank, some Doushka heavy machine guns and automatic weapons. YPG lost 16 of its fighters.


 * On July 7, the IS target was the Kun Eftar village, slightly north of the Turkish sovereign territory of the Tomb of Suleiman Shah. Here YPG lost two fighters but IS lost 20 to 30. IS could not achieve its goals. Next came attacks from Tel Abyad in the east. On July 8, IS attacked Evdiko village 8 kilometers (5 miles) west of Tel Abyad. In that clash, six YPG fighters and civilians were killed. Another IS target was Abu Surra village, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Tel Abyad. There, IS blew up a bomb-laden truck at a YPG checkpoint, killing four YPG fighters.

By July 8, Kurdish officials were speaking of at least one village reclaimed (Zormixar), and 200 ISIS fighters killed, with no word on their own losses. On the same day, Kurdish news agency Firat put the number of killed ISIS fighters at 270, with 21 fighters of Rojava's self-defense militia People's Protection Units (YPG) and one civilian dead on their side.

According to Fehim Taştekin writing for Al Monitor, the reasons for the assault are:


 * IS encountered the toughest resistance in Syria at Rojava and despite all its efforts, could not overcome it. Rojava became a major obstruction to IS.
 * Kobane is the weakest link among three cantons of Rojava, which are not contiguous. Nassan and all other Kurds believe that by capturing Kobane, the IS wants to wipe out the autonomy project.
 * If Kobane falls, the IS will next target the Mursitpinar border crossing to Turkey to further consolidate its presence on the Turkish border.
 * IS cannot establish a land connection between Jarablus and Tel Abyad, which it controls, by using the 85-kilometer (53-mile) road parallel to the Turkish border that links those two towns. They now have to travel 250 kilometers (160 miles) for the same trip.

On July 11, Firat reports that the YPG has "for the first time" used anti-tank missiles, destroying an ISIS-manned tank in the village of Carikli. Participants of a solidarity vigil action in the Turkish border village of Ziyaret report that a train carrying Turkish tanks was seen driving through the region with unknown destination.

A YPG press release on July 13 states that 61 ISIS fighters had been killed during the last 24 hours in continued attacks on several fronts. In another statement ISIS is accused of using chemical weapons in their attacks. Traces had been found on two dead YPG fighters (photos published with the statement) and a call was made to the international community to come investigate details, as Kobane's situation under siege doesn't give the local authorities access to the equipment necessary to do so.

After thousands attended solidarity events on the Turkish side of the border, in the night of July 15, about 300 Turkish Kurds teared down the border fence and crossed into Rojava to join the fight, which continues on three fronts: To the West around Zor Mixar, to the South in the villages on the banks of Euphrates, and to the East around Kendal, Evdıke and Gıre Sor. The nearest ISIS came to the city of Kobane is 35 kilometers, while their most powerful mortars reach 25 kilometers.

On July 19, tens of thousands gathered on both sides of the border to celebrate the second birthday of the so-called "Rojava Revolution". Despite Turkish police using tear gas and water cannons trying to stop them, at least a thousand people managed to tear down the border fence and cross over to Kobane to join the still ongoing fight against ISIS.

After some more days of fierce fighting, ISIS had to retreat and on July 22, the Kurds started a counter-offensive named "Revenge for the martyrs of Kobane" securing the borders of Kobane canton before ISIS would be able to re-group. The stated goal of ISIS, to conquer Kobane before the end of Ramadan, had no chance of being reached anymore.

September
In mid-September 2014, while over in the US a debate on if and how to bomb ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria was going on, and how this could lead to "strange bedfellows", ISIS started their yet heaviest attacks on Kobane with tanks and heavy artillery and ongoing support from NATO-member Turkey which keeps the borders open for them. On September 17 several sources report about a train delivering fighters and material to the Turkish side of the border near Tel Abyad, stopping and unloading to the Syrian side in the village of Silib Qeran, which has no train station. Due to the intensity of attacks, the YPG starts to evacuate citizens from villages east of Kobane town, with the latter said to host 600-700,000 people at that time - about three times as much as normal.

Kidnapped Students
Rudaw reported
 * They also reported that ISIS was holding hostage hundreds of civilians in Jarablus and Tall Abyad. These include 130 Kurdish students seized as they were returning from school examinations in Aleppo. Despite an international outcry, ISIS has refused to free them in the hope of using them to put pressure on the YPG.

These were actually kidnapped earlier, but most are from Kobane. McClatchy reports:
 * An estimated 148 Kurdish students kidnapped by Islamic militants in northeastern Syria while traveling to their final exams in late May remain in the hands of the extremists, who are subjecting the children to intensive attempts to radicalize them, leaving parents concerned that some of the students will join the radicals. ... "It seems like ISIS is trying to use the children as a bargaining chip to pressure YPG," said Civiroglu. "Families also worry that their children may be brainwashed and used in suicide attacks."

Irony note in the June article:
 * Human Rights Watch released a report last week accusing the YPG and PKK military and political groups of a litany of human rights abuses against the Arab population of northern Syria, which it is competing against for territory in civil war-torn Syria, and against ISIL prisoners and even Kurdish political dissidents.

On July 1, one month after their abduction, Human Rights Watch released a statement demanding the release of the remaining 133 young hostages (after 15 were released days earlier in an apparent deal with the YPG).
 * The top education official in Ain al-`Arab, Hussein Mohammad Ali, told Human Rights Watch that at least 1,000 students, ages 13 to 18, travelled to Aleppo in buses and mini-buses, along with some teachers. ISIS allowed the convoy to proceed to Aleppo, but stopped the first group that returned – 13 and 14 year-olds from the ninth grade – in the ISIS-controlled town of Manbij, Ali and the two other local officials said. There ISIS fighters separated the boys from the girls and sent the girls home with the drivers.

In the second week of July there have been again negotiations about the kids, failing not least because ISIS keeps on taking more hostages.