Kurds halt jihadist advance in Syrian town

Islamic State still controls one-third of Kobani, but sustains heavy losses

By AP and AFP 12 October 2014, 5:49 pm

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Thick smoke, debris and fire rise following an airstrike by the US-led coalition in Kobani, Syria, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, as seen from Mursitpinar on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014. (photo credit: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Activists say Kurdish fighters have been able to halt the advance of the Islamic State extremist group in the Syrian border town of Kobani, where the US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes for more than two weeks.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the militants have not been able to advance since Friday but are sending in reinforcements.

Farhad Shami, a Kurdish activist in Kobani reached by phone from Beirut, says the town was “relatively quiet” on Sunday apart from sniper fire.

He said Islamic State fighters launched an offensive south of the town Saturday but were repelled and lost many fighters.

Rami Abdurrahman, the Observatory’s chief, said 36 jihadi fighters were killed in Kobani on Saturday. The jihadists control more than a third of the town.

‘Cultivated, intelligent and phlegmatic’

A Kurdish woman fighter is leading the battle against Islamic State jihadists in Kobani, a monitoring group and activists said Sunday.

“Mayssa Abdo, known by the nom de guerre of Narin Afrin, is commanding the YPG in Kobani along with Mahmud Barkhodan,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The secular and left-leaning Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) group has been defending Kobani, on the border with Turkey, since Islamic State (IS) fighters launched an assault on September 16.

The group, the de facto army of the Kurdish regions of north and northeast Syria, is the armed wing of the powerful Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).

As is the custom for Kurdish fighters, Mayssa, 40, uses a pseudonym, with hers coming from the Afrin region where she was born that is located like Kobani in Aleppo province.

“Those who know her say she is cultivated, intelligent and phlegmatic,” said Mustefa Ebdi, a Kurdish activist from Kobani.

“She cares for the mental state of the fighters and takes interest in their problems,” he said.

Women traditionally form a major part of Kurdish fighting forces, and they are well represented among Kurdish forces in neighbouring Turkey and Iraq.

On October 5, young Kurdish woman fighter Dilar Gencxemis, identified by the YPG by the nom de guerre of Arin Mirkan, blew herself up outside Kobani in an attack which reportedly killed dozens of IS militants.

She became the first Kurdish woman suicide bomber since the 2011 start of Syria’s conflict.

Since the withdrawal of government forces from Kurdish areas of Syria in mid-2012, the PYD has set up local councils for Kurds to run their own affairs, with women filling 40 percent of seats.