When Islamic State jihadists launched a major offensive on the majority Kurdish town of Kobane in September, more than 180,000 people fled across the border into Turkey. Local authorities struggled to cope with the influx at first, and thousands of refugees were forced to sleep on the streets of the Turkish border town of Suruc. Now camps are being set up to provide shelter and other assistance.
With the borders closed and thousands unable to leave Kobane, VICE News visited one of six refugee camps in the town to find out how refugee families — some sharing tents with up to 14 other people — are coping with leaving their homes and livelihoods behind.
Intensified airstrikes on the Syrian border town of Kobani have forced the Islamic State group to retreat as Kurdish forces regained control of areas lost earlier this week, according to media reports. In the last 48 hours, hundreds of ISIS militants have reportedly been killed in airstrikes carried out by the United States-led coalition.
“Maybe in the few past days (Islamic State) was controlling about 40 percent of the city of Kobani, but now... less than 20 percent of the city is under their control,” Idriss Nassan, a local Kurdish official, told BBC late on Wednesday. “Today YPG started cleaning operations in the east and south-east of Kobani.” YPG is a group of Kurdish fighters engaged in battle with ISIS militants in the strategic border town.
Meanwhile, violent clashes between Kurdish fighters and militants of the Islamic State group were also reported in the town's northwest amid overnight airstrikes in the region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Yeah this is good. Some news/political critics are criticizing that the majority of coalition airstrikes are now in literally one town in Syria, but it was a royal opportunity to heavily devastate ISIS's personnel, and Iraq is doing tons of airstrikes themselves anyways so I wouldn't say they're overly dependent on Coalition aircraft.
I was seeing them in squares but right now, even in my district there many syrian beggars. Not good.
And some of them started killing local market owners, thievery etc.
Fun to hear but they robbed a woman who tried to help them by giving clothes, while she was doing that, they robbed her car, and her heels in the backseats. LOL.
I guess we should start learning living with those 2 millions, they say they are opening a lot of restaurants, a town in Turkey is completely Syrian. D:
On October 17 2014 09:56 pls no ty wrote: I was seeing them in squares but right now, even in my district there many syrian beggars. Not good.
And some of them started killing local market owners, thievery etc.
Fun to hear but they robbed a woman who tried to help them by giving clothes, while she was doing that, they robbed her car, and her heels in the backseats. LOL.
I guess we should start learning living with those 2 millions, they say they are opening a lot of restaurants, a town in Turkey is completely Syrian. D:
Lots of fighting has been going on in Diyala province in Iraq in the past months, and the Badr militia's leader claims it will be completely liberated within a few weeks.
Diyali (IraqiNews.com) On Thursday the head of Badr Organization, Hadi Al-Ameri, said that Iraqi forces accompanied by the armed volunteer troops are likely to liberate the province of Diyali from the ISIS militants within a few weeks.
Al-Ameri stated today “Liberating the province of Diyali is likely to take us a few weeks. Our forces will head to Samarra afterwards”. He also noted that they gained control and secured 11 km north of Speicher base.
Iraqi PM Al-Abadi asked the Nineveh governor Nujaifi to re-organize Iraqi military forces and militias in the northern province in order to take on Mosul.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi has asked Nineveh Governor Atheel Nujaifi to create a joint force in aim of freeing Mosul from Islamic State control.
Nineveh governor Nujaifi has confirmed reports that PM Abadi has asked him to form a special force for liberating Mosul and other areas on Nineveh that has been under control of Islamic State (IS) militants since last June.
A political source from Iraqi Capital Baghdad told BasNews that Abadi would invite Nujaifi to Baghdad and to re-organize the Iraqi Army division in Mosul in northern Iraq.
Nujaifi told local Iraq media that he has talked with the Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh Fayaz and he has told him, Abadi has nominated him as a person who can re-organize the Iraqi forces in Mosul.
“I have been asked by a high council in Iraq to re-organize the Iraqi army in Mosul based on the constitution of Iraq and so far serious attempts have been taken to have a closer relations with all the security establishments of Iraq and to re-build the Iraqi Army in the Province,” said Nujaifi.
After the capture of Mosul by the IS insurgents in June this year, Iraqi army faced a huge collapse where the soldiers left their weapons and military equipment, including heavy weapons and fled without fighting against IS militants.
BEIRUT, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Iraqi pilots who have joined Islamic State in Syria are training members of the group to fly in three captured fighter jets, a group monitoring the war said on Friday, saying it was the first time that the militant group had taken to the air.
The group, which has seized land in Syria and Iraq, has been flying the planes over the captured al-Jarrah military airport east of Aleppo, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On October 17 2014 09:56 pls no ty wrote: I was seeing them in squares but right now, even in my district there many syrian beggars. Not good.
And some of them started killing local market owners, thievery etc.
Fun to hear but they robbed a woman who tried to help them by giving clothes, while she was doing that, they robbed her car, and her heels in the backseats. LOL.
I guess we should start learning living with those 2 millions, they say they are opening a lot of restaurants, a town in Turkey is completely Syrian. D:
Aways the Kurds right? And please could you post at least a quote from each link?
The things i wrote till "some other news" were not related to Kurds, normal Syrians, mostly Arabic. And links are about FSA, PKK, REFUGEES.
I will quote important parts from now on, thank you.
"There is no question of that as long as the PKK threatens Turkey with fresh violence," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an interview broadcast on Twitter
"I do not rule out supporting other groups. But this would have to be done with Turkey, not against it. That also applies to support for the PKK," added Kauder, whose party governs Germany in coalition with Steinmeier's Social Democrats.
On October 17 2014 09:56 pls no ty wrote: I was seeing them in squares but right now, even in my district there many syrian beggars. Not good.
And some of them started killing local market owners, thievery etc.
Fun to hear but they robbed a woman who tried to help them by giving clothes, while she was doing that, they robbed her car, and her heels in the backseats. LOL.
I guess we should start learning living with those 2 millions, they say they are opening a lot of restaurants, a town in Turkey is completely Syrian. D:
"There is no question of that as long as the PKK threatens Turkey with fresh violence," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an interview broadcast on Twitter
"I do not rule out supporting other groups. But this would have to be done with Turkey, not against it. That also applies to support for the PKK," added Kauder, whose party governs Germany in coalition with Steinmeier's Social Democrats.
Iraqi tribal leader Sheikh Ali al-Hatem on Tuesday (October 14th) called on all Sunnis to leave the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) as belonging to the group is "high treason".
"I urge all Sunni tribesmen and citizens who were deceived into joining ISIL to immediately withdraw and return to their tribes that are now relentlessly fighting ISIL," the leader of al-Dulaim tribe said during a press conference in Erbil.
"All the tribes agreed to consider those who join ISIL or co-operate with it in any way as traitors whose killing is justified and who will be deprived of tribal rights," he said.
Iraqi forces clear out Jaberiya just west of Baghdad, killing up to 60 IS fighters: + Show Spoiler +
A JOINT force of Iraqi army and police personnel have staged a brazen attack on an Islamic State staging post west of Baghdad killing 60 militants and providing some relief to locals in the Iraqi capital.
For days ISIS militants have been sweeping through the western province of Anbar toward Baghdad, sacking a number of towns and villages and seizing armaments from a military base the Iraqi army was forced to abandon.
But the joint local force stormed the militants camp in Jaberiya killing up to 60 militants while also killing a number of senior ISIS figures in a second fightback near Ramadi, the capital of Anbar region.
The rare success for local Iraqi forces has provided some relief to coalition forces — involved in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq — that privately believed the Anbar province would be lost in a matter of days allowing ISIS forces an open back door into Baghdad. Reports the capital could be overrun by jihadists were scotched today.
Despite there having been yet another suicide bomb attack in eastern Baghdad yesterday, for the fourth day in a row the latest killing five civilians and three police at a police checkpoint, those in Baghdad maintain the capital has never been safer.
Australian aircraft strike in Iraq. (There's a typo in the title that says "United Arab Emirates" instead of "Iraq" >_> + Show Spoiler +
AUSTRALIAN bombing raids are believed to have killed dozens of terrorists in the past week, following two successful air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq.
As Treasurer Joe Hockey made a surprise visit to Australia’s base in the UAE, the Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, confirmed that Australian forces had for the first time conducted at least two successful combat operations using FA/18 super hornets to kill the enemy on the ground.
However, he would not specify how many Islamic State fighters had been killed.
The aircraft had also taken out facilities used by IS.
RAAF missions have been ramped up over Iraq to allow other coalition forces to focus on fierce fighting in Syria.
Australia’s super hornets had conducted a total of 43 flights over Iraq — or around three a day — since becoming operational almost two weeks ago, he said.
Lebanon has 1% "support" among Lebanese Sunnis, 0% among other groups, according to poll. Also in article: Polarization of Lebanese society; more support for ISIS in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.: + Show Spoiler +
BEIRUT: Just 1 percent of Lebanon’s Sunni population has a positive opinion of ISIS, according to new poll commissioned by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Still, that means there are probably “a few thousand” ISIS sympathizers in Lebanon, according to David Pollock, the director of the Washington Institute’s Fikra Forum, who designed the survey.
No Lebanese Sunnis in the poll reported “very positive” attitudes toward ISIS, but approximately 1 percent of Sunnis said they harbor “fairly positive” views of the Islamist terror group.
Of the 1,000 Lebanese interviewed for the survey, not a single Christian, Druze or Shiite respondent was supportive of ISIS.
Pollock says that while ISIS itself poses little military threat to Lebanon, the country’s stability could be threatened by the ongoing Syrian conflict which continues to fan sectarian flames.
Much larger-scale operation kicked off in Saladin province: + Show Spoiler +
The governor of Salahuddin, Raed al-Jubouri said that a military operation, backed by airforce, statred to free the province.
He added in a press statement today: "The military operation was launched today to cleanse the province of Salahuddin, starting toward Tikrit, Baiji, under air cover from the flight of the Iraqi army and the international coalition" .
Heavy fighting in Ramadi, with IS attacks defeated and IS positions attacked: + Show Spoiler +
Iraqi security forces today battled Islamic State jihadists in the strategic city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, and near militant-held Tikrit to the north, officials said.
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, is one of a dwindling number of areas in the province where pro-government forces still hold ground, and its loss would be a major blow for Baghdad.
Deputy provincial council chief Faleh al-Essawi said security forces attacked IS jihadists in three different areas of Ramadi today and repelled an assault by the militants from the city's north.
A police major said an IS attack from the western side of Ramadi was also held off by security forces and allied tribesmen.
On October 17 2014 09:56 pls no ty wrote: I was seeing them in squares but right now, even in my district there many syrian beggars. Not good.
And some of them started killing local market owners, thievery etc.
Fun to hear but they robbed a woman who tried to help them by giving clothes, while she was doing that, they robbed her car, and her heels in the backseats. LOL.
I guess we should start learning living with those 2 millions, they say they are opening a lot of restaurants, a town in Turkey is completely Syrian. D:
Aways the Kurds right? And please could you post at least a quote from each link?
The things i wrote till "some other news" were not related to Kurds, normal Syrians, mostly Arabic. And links are about FSA, PKK, REFUGEES.
I will quote important parts from now on, thank you.
"There is no question of that as long as the PKK threatens Turkey with fresh violence," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an interview broadcast on Twitter
"I do not rule out supporting other groups. But this would have to be done with Turkey, not against it. That also applies to support for the PKK," added Kauder, whose party governs Germany in coalition with Steinmeier's Social Democrats.
On October 18 2014 07:36 JudicatorHammurabi wrote: JOINING ISIS IS TREASON -Tribal leader + Show Spoiler +
Iraqi tribal leader Sheikh Ali al-Hatem on Tuesday (October 14th) called on all Sunnis to leave the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) as belonging to the group is "high treason".
"I urge all Sunni tribesmen and citizens who were deceived into joining ISIL to immediately withdraw and return to their tribes that are now relentlessly fighting ISIL," the leader of al-Dulaim tribe said during a press conference in Erbil.
"All the tribes agreed to consider those who join ISIL or co-operate with it in any way as traitors whose killing is justified and who will be deprived of tribal rights," he said.
Iraqi forces clear out Jaberiya just west of Baghdad, killing up to 60 IS fighters: + Show Spoiler +
A JOINT force of Iraqi army and police personnel have staged a brazen attack on an Islamic State staging post west of Baghdad killing 60 militants and providing some relief to locals in the Iraqi capital.
For days ISIS militants have been sweeping through the western province of Anbar toward Baghdad, sacking a number of towns and villages and seizing armaments from a military base the Iraqi army was forced to abandon.
But the joint local force stormed the militants camp in Jaberiya killing up to 60 militants while also killing a number of senior ISIS figures in a second fightback near Ramadi, the capital of Anbar region.
The rare success for local Iraqi forces has provided some relief to coalition forces — involved in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq — that privately believed the Anbar province would be lost in a matter of days allowing ISIS forces an open back door into Baghdad. Reports the capital could be overrun by jihadists were scotched today.
Despite there having been yet another suicide bomb attack in eastern Baghdad yesterday, for the fourth day in a row the latest killing five civilians and three police at a police checkpoint, those in Baghdad maintain the capital has never been safer.
Australian aircraft strike in Iraq. (There's a typo in the title that says "United Arab Emirates" instead of "Iraq" >_> + Show Spoiler +
AUSTRALIAN bombing raids are believed to have killed dozens of terrorists in the past week, following two successful air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq.
As Treasurer Joe Hockey made a surprise visit to Australia’s base in the UAE, the Chief of Joint Operations, Vice Admiral David Johnston, confirmed that Australian forces had for the first time conducted at least two successful combat operations using FA/18 super hornets to kill the enemy on the ground.
However, he would not specify how many Islamic State fighters had been killed.
The aircraft had also taken out facilities used by IS.
RAAF missions have been ramped up over Iraq to allow other coalition forces to focus on fierce fighting in Syria.
Australia’s super hornets had conducted a total of 43 flights over Iraq — or around three a day — since becoming operational almost two weeks ago, he said.
Lebanon has 1% "support" among Lebanese Sunnis, 0% among other groups, according to poll. Also in article: Polarization of Lebanese society; more support for ISIS in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.: + Show Spoiler +
BEIRUT: Just 1 percent of Lebanon’s Sunni population has a positive opinion of ISIS, according to new poll commissioned by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Still, that means there are probably “a few thousand” ISIS sympathizers in Lebanon, according to David Pollock, the director of the Washington Institute’s Fikra Forum, who designed the survey.
No Lebanese Sunnis in the poll reported “very positive” attitudes toward ISIS, but approximately 1 percent of Sunnis said they harbor “fairly positive” views of the Islamist terror group.
Of the 1,000 Lebanese interviewed for the survey, not a single Christian, Druze or Shiite respondent was supportive of ISIS.
Pollock says that while ISIS itself poses little military threat to Lebanon, the country’s stability could be threatened by the ongoing Syrian conflict which continues to fan sectarian flames.
Much larger-scale operation kicked off in Saladin province: + Show Spoiler +
The governor of Salahuddin, Raed al-Jubouri said that a military operation, backed by airforce, statred to free the province.
He added in a press statement today: "The military operation was launched today to cleanse the province of Salahuddin, starting toward Tikrit, Baiji, under air cover from the flight of the Iraqi army and the international coalition" .
On October 17 2014 09:56 pls no ty wrote: I was seeing them in squares but right now, even in my district there many syrian beggars. Not good.
And some of them started killing local market owners, thievery etc.
Fun to hear but they robbed a woman who tried to help them by giving clothes, while she was doing that, they robbed her car, and her heels in the backseats. LOL.
I guess we should start learning living with those 2 millions, they say they are opening a lot of restaurants, a town in Turkey is completely Syrian. D:
Aways the Kurds right? And please could you post at least a quote from each link?
The things i wrote till "some other news" were not related to Kurds, normal Syrians, mostly Arabic. And links are about FSA, PKK, REFUGEES.
I will quote important parts from now on, thank you.
"There is no question of that as long as the PKK threatens Turkey with fresh violence," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an interview broadcast on Twitter
"I do not rule out supporting other groups. But this would have to be done with Turkey, not against it. That also applies to support for the PKK," added Kauder, whose party governs Germany in coalition with Steinmeier's Social Democrats.
ROME, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Italy will send 280 soldiers to train Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq to consult the Iraqi high command, Italy's Defense Minister said speaking at parliament.
As well as soldiers, Italy will send a KC-767 in-flight refuelling plane and two Predator drones to Iraq, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti told parliament Thursday, according to the Italian agency ANSA.
REUTERS – Britain may use a medieval law dating to 1351 to charge citizens with treason if they go to fight with Islamic State insurgents in Iraq and Syria, according to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
Security officials say some 500 Britons - almost all with Muslim immigrant backgrounds - are believed to be fighting in Iraq and Syria, though the true figure could be much greater. The concern is that those who return could carry out attacks on British targets.
Hammond said any British citizen who had sworn personal allegiance to the so-called Islamic State could have committed an offence under the Treason Act of 1351, which was passed during the reign of English King Edward III.
SURUC, Turkey — The advance of Islamic State forces on the Syrian city of Kobani has stalled as the militants have been forced to retreat on several fronts, shifting the monthlong battle increasingly in favor of the Kurdish fighters defending the city, according to commanders and Kurdish and American officials.
Dozens of airstrikes this week by the American-led military coalition killed hundreds of Islamic State fighters, allowing Kurdish units to regain territory, said Gen. Lloyd J. Austin, head of the United States Central Command, who made a rare appearance before reporters at the Pentagon on Friday.
The Kurdish fighters, General Austin added, have done “yeoman’s work in terms of standing their ground.”
Over the last two days, the rapidly changing fortunes of the Kurdish fighters have produced a sense of palpable relief in Kobani, as well as in the refugee camps in neighboring Turkey that are filled with the city’s residents. The fierce clashes of previous weeks have given way to a tentative calm, broken on Friday only by the occasional crash of mortar rounds and some scattered sniper fire.
The commander of the Tigris Operations, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Zaidi, said on Friday that during a successful pre-emptive operation, Iraqi forces killed over 50 percent of the ISIL militants’ senior leaders in Diyala province.
He also emphasized that police, civilian forces and Iraqi tribesmen have led an important role in fighting the Takfiri terrorist group.
The Iraqi commander went on to say that the ISIL has lost most of its bases in Diyala province and that the few regions under the control of the terrorists in the province will be liberated soon.
Earlier on Friday, the Iraqi army backed by volunteer forces launched a mop-up operation against the ISIL Takfiri militants in the north of the capital Baghdad.
Reports say government forces and the Takfiri terrorists are also engaged in heavy fighting in other provinces in the north and west of the country.
Troops supported by Shia and Sunni tribal fighters have also gained ground in Nineveh province.
But almost entirely unnoticed is how the Iraqi government has responded. Central to the battle for the hearts and minds of Iraq’s Sunnis is the supply of electricity. In June, fellow Princeton doctoral student Gabriel Tenorio and I, writing for The Post, described results of our research, which indicate that increased electricity supply during the Iraq war was associated with strong and persistent reductions in levels of insurgent violence against coalition forces. In light of these results, we suggested that the Iraqi government employ a “strategy [against the Islamic State] that combines offensive military tactics with meeting the needs of citizens within affected communities.”
Unfortunately, such strategy requires that the Iraqi military penetrate Islamic State strongholds, which it has yet to do. Perhaps as a result, the Iraqi government has done largely the opposite, and potentially with good strategic effect.
The United Nations released satellite imagery this summer comparing a large swath of northern Iraq between May and June showing significant reductions in night lights (and, therefore, electricity) between those dates. Since then, Iraq’s central government has provided me with province-level electricity statistics for the months before and after the Islamic State’s spread through Iraq.
The data are striking: within the three provinces most affected by the Islamic State – Anbar, Ninewa and Salah Al Din – the organization’s arrival has been marked by massive reductions in electricity supply. In Ninewa, which was hardest hit, mean monthly electricity load fell from more than 866 megawatts in May to 186 megawatts in August. Meanwhile, electricity levels throughout the rest of Iraq have remained stable (Figure 1). ... A distinct possibility is that the Iraqi central government has cut off power to areas of the country under Islamic State control. Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government has done so. Under this scenario, Baghdad may be calculating that by restricting the supply of electricity, affected Iraqis will direct blame for the lost electricity on the occupying militants. If they do, the government may benefit as local Iraqis report on the Islamic State’s activities, passively resist the organization and so on.
Iran's state agency confirmed that a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander, brigadier general Jabbar Darisawi has been killed in Syria.
IRNA reported on Oct.17 that the body of general Darisawi was buried in Ahvaz Province on Thursday, but didn't mention when the top commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed.
IRNA reported that the general was killed in an effort "defending the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque".
VERY IMPORTANT: IRAQI MPs APPROVE THE SELECTIONS FOR THE DEFENSE AND INTERIOR MINISTERS:
Iraqi parliamentarians have approved all the remaining positions in Prime Minister Haidar al-Abbadi's government, sanctioning a Sunni Muslim to become the new defence minister and a Shia to be the interior minister.
The parliament voted on Saturday to approve the appointment of Khaled al-Obeidi, a Sunni from the northern city of Mosul that is now under the control of the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), as the defence minister. Mohammed al-Ghabban of the powerful Shia political party, the Badr Organisation, which has a militia wing, is to take over the interior ministry.
Obeidi belongs to the party of Vice President Usama al-Nujaifi and is a confidant of his brother Atheel al-Nujaifi, the governor of Nineveh province that was overrun by Sunni ISIL forces.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said news of the appointments "will be relieving to the international community, especially countries involved in the coalition fighing the ISIL," adding that it reflects Abaddi's efforts to "form an inclusive cabinet..."
He said the Iraqi air force carried out air strikes on ISIL positions in Anbar and Salahuddin provinces, killing 94 fighters from the Sunni armed group.
"This is the first time we see such a large number of ISIL fighters to be killed by Iraqi air strikes, and not US-led," our correspondent said.
The Iraqi strikes came as US-led air raids continued to pound ISIL positions to foil the group's goal of establishing a caliphate that expands into Syria.
Just watched some isis footage from kobani .. why they keep on shooting the coalition planes with their pick up mounted machine guns instead of hiding ?
On October 19 2014 22:17 ImFromPortugal wrote: Just watched some isis footage from kobani .. why they keep on shooting the coalition planes with their pick up mounted machine guns instead of hiding ?
Because they are idiots overhyped by Western media and made look successful on the background of cowardice and ineptness of the Iraqi army.
Because Allah is protecting them..?. Honestly their AA technicals would be only efficient against aircraft that are doing low dumb bomb runs like the Syrian Air Force.
Also these videos are 100% propaganda. They just show stuff that looks cool, not really what would be the most effective. That would make for some boring TV.
EPT
