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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said that Kobane was “about to fall” after Islamic State (IS) fighters advanced into the southwest part of the town, pressing home their three-week assault, which has reportedly cost around 400 lives. The prospect of the Syrian Kurdish town, which lies on the Turkish border, being captured by the extremists will likely increase pressure on Turkey, which has the biggest army in the region, to join the international coalition against the IS. So far, the US-led air strikes have failed to prevent the IS’ advance.
Militants from the IS want to capture Kobane to strengthen their grip on the border and consolidate their territorial gains in Syria and Iraq. Erdogan said that the global aerial campaign is not enough to defeat the IS and that Turkey has emphasized that additional measures will be needed.
“The problem of ISIS (Islamic State) … cannot be solved via air bombardment. Right now … Kobani is about to fall.We had warned the West. We wanted three things. No-fly zone, a secure zone parallel to that, and the training of moderate Syrian rebels”, Erdogan said during a visit to a Syrian refugee camp.
Erdogan added that Turkey will intervene if there is a threat to Turkish soldiers guarding the revered tomb of Suleyman Shah, an ancient site northeast of Aleppo that Turkey considers its territory. So far, Turkey has not gotten involved in the fight in Syria.
Two IS flags unfurled in the eastern side of Kobane could be seen across the Turkish border in addition to two air strikes that hit the region as well as sporadic gunfire. Plumes of white smoke were seen over central and eastern parts of Kobane, as two ambulances from Kobane crossed the Turkish border.
Monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that it has documented 412 deaths of fighters and civilians during the past three weeks in Kobane.