Attacks on Kobane now and 15 months ago

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ARA News
by Hozan Mamo

Panic spreads among Kurdish civilians as ISIS jihadis re-attack Kobane

Militants of the extremist group of Islamic State (ISIS) bombed residential neighborhoods in the Kurdish city of Kobane and its suburbs, northern Syria, causing a state of panic among civilians, local sources reported on Thursday.

The western part of Kobane city and several nearby villages were exposed to heavy shelling by ISIS militants based in Jarablus on the border with Turkey.

“Dozens of mortar shells fired by ISIS terrorists hit civilian’s houses in Kobane and its western countryside on Thursday,” local media activist Sleman Hosho told ARA News.

“The bombardment caused dozens of civilian casualties and mass displacement among the residents towards the eastern countryside of Kobane,” the source reported.

The ISIS-led attack also caused mass destruction in civilians’ houses in the area.

Hosho added that hundreds of families remained in their neighborhoods and villages despite the shelling.

“The horrific memories of ISIS atrocities against the Kurdish civilians in Kobane in the past are still remembered, and people are still afraid of similar scenarios to take place in case ISIS returns to the area. But the majority of Kobane residents insist to not leave their hometown again,” he said.

Speaking to ARA News in Kobane, one of the residents said: “The terrorist group is trying to send a massage to the people of Kobane that the war is not over yet and they will return to the area soon.”

“However, after the liberation of Kobane at the hands of the Kurdish forces, people are determined to stay in their homes despite the mounting risks. We won’t submit our land to those barbarians,” he said.

Over the past few months, dozens of civilians were reportedly killed in ISIS mortar attacks in Kobane.

Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Peshmerga, backed by allied Syrian rebels and the U.S.-led coalition’s air cover, liberated the city of Kobane and large parts of its countryside in January 2015, after nearly four months of battles against ISIS militants. Later on, the radical group tried to infiltrate into the area. Hit-and-run clashes continued between ISIS and the Kurdish forces until the formation of the western-backed alliance of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that has recently pushed ISIS back in the southern and western countryside of Kobane.

http://aranews.net/2016/01/isis-jihadis ... -reported/

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phpBB [video]

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Remember how Turkish tanks rushed in to protect Kobane 15 months ago

https://youtu.be/jxCHbQYL77c