Syria blasts brutal IS attack on Kurdish city of Kobane

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, October 8, 2014
Adjust font size:

The Syrian government on Tuesday condemned the ferocious attack by the Islamic State (IS) against the predominantly Kurdish city of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish borders, according to the state news agency SANA.

The government branded the IS actions against Kobane and its surrounding villages as "brutal massacres" against the people of Kobane.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Wael Halqi stressed that Kobane will always be "Syria's beating heart," noting that his government is providing relief aid to all Syrian cities "especially" to Kobane to "reinforce its people's steadfastness in the face of the terrorist siege" imposed by the IS , according to SANA.

The prime minister added that the Syrian troops will haunt down the terrorists wherever they located on Syrian soil.

The condemnation, which came during a cabinet session, was the first such condemnation by the Syrian government since the IS launched its wide-scale offensive on Kobane three weeks ago.

In Kobane, clashes continued on Tuesday at the eastern districts of the city and the southwestern rim, according to the oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The observatory said well over 400 people including fighters had been killed in the weeks-long clashes between the IS terror group and Kurdish militants of the People's Protection Unites, or YPG, in Kobane.

The death toll includes at least 219 IS fighters and 163 YPGs, said the observatory.

The U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has reportedly intensified strikes against the IS positions around Kobane over the past 24 hours in a bid to aid the battered Kurdish militants, who have managed to defend their city against falling to the IS for over three consecutive weeks.

The coalition's previous strikes had largely failed to stem the momentum of the IS fighters in their crushing offensive against Kobane.

Kobane, which is also known as Ayn al-Arab and home to over 400, 000 people, has attracted hundreds of Kurdish fighters to stream through the Iraqi and Turkey borders to aid their fellow Kurds, who have seen one of the most ferocious and relentless shellings by the IS against the heart of the city.

Since the IS unleashed its attack on Sept. 16, the IS militants have captured more than 300 villages around Kobane and pushed over 160,000 people to flee toward neighboring Turkey. Endi

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:   
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter