Written by Oman Observer
KOBANI — From a small, backwater tucked in northern Syria, the Kurdish town of Kobani was thrown onto the world stage in September when IS militants stormed in and captured almost half the town, triggering a surge of tens of thousands of refugees.Nearly three months of devastating fighting later, the Kurdish men and women of Kobani are still stubbornly defending the town, slowly clawing back territory from the militants on several fronts. Although far from over, the extremists’ blunted drive to capture Kobani has come to symbolise their limits as they fight enemies on multiple fronts in both Iraq and Syria.
The Kurdish fighters of Kobani have been aided by US airstrikes hitting militants in and around the town — more than 310 since mid-September — and a group of Kurdish peshmerga forces from Iraq who came to Kobani with more advanced weapons. A second battalion of peshmerga forces crossed into Kobani this week, replacing the first wave.
Perhaps in an attempt to cut its losses, IS appears to be shifting its attention away from Kobani, launching a major attack this week on a key military air base in eastern Syria.
An exclusive report shot by videojournalist Jake Simkin, who spent a week inside Kobani late last month, offered a rare, in-depth glimpse of the horrendous destruction inflicted on the town and the lives of the fighters and civilians left behind.
Blocks of low-rise buildings with hollow facades, shattered concrete, streets strewn with rubble and overturned, crumpled remains of cars and trucks. Such is the landscape in Kobani, where the sounds of rifle and mortar fire resonate all day long in fighting between IS extremists and the Syrian town’s Kurdish defenders.
Kurdish fighters peek through sand-bagged positions, firing at suspected militant positions. Female fighters in trenches move quickly behind sheets strung up to block the view of snipers. Foreign jets circle overhead.
An exclusive report shot by a video-journalist inside Kobani offered a rare, in-depth glimpse of the horrendous destruction that more than two months of fighting has inflicted on the Kurdish town in northern Syria by the Turkish border.
There, Kurdish fighters backed by small numbers of Iraqi peshmerga forces and Syrian rebels, are locked in what they see as an existential battle against the militants, who swept into their town in mid-September as part of a summer blitz after the IS group overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.
Helped by more than 270 airstrikes from a US-led coalition and an American airdrop of weapons, the Kurds have succeeded in halting the militants’ advance and now believe that a corner has been turned.
Several fighters with the YPG, the main Kurdish fighting force, spoke confidently of a coming victory. Jamil Marzuka, a senior commander, said the fighting has “entered a new phase” in the last week.
“We can tell everyone, not just those on the front lines, that we are drawing up the necessary tactics and plans to liberate the city,” he said.
A YPG fighter, who identified himself only by his first name, Pozul, said only small pockets of militants remain. Still, he said he and other fighters must remain wary as they move around because IS snipers lurk amid the ruins and the militants have booby-trapped buildings they left behind.
“They are scattered so as to give us the impression that there are a lot of them, but there are not,” he said.
The Kurds’ claims of imminent victory may be overly ambitious. But the AP’s reporting has found that the IS group’s drive has at least been blunted. Hundreds of militants have been killed, most of them by airstrikes.
Activists said IS militants withdrew from large parts of the so-called Kurdish security quarter, an eastern district where Kurdish militiamen maintain security buildings and offices. Militants had seized the area last month.
Zardasht Kobani, a 26-year-old YPG unit commander, has been fighting day and night for weeks. Often he and his fellow fighters were short on ammunition and sleep, he said. Now he feels an important victory at is at hand. The battle of Kobani has had a crucial symbolism for both sides.
He said the militants have failed in Kobani and are looking for a way out. “But IS knows that escaping from Kobani will spell their downfall,” he said.
One of the few signs of life in this northern Syria border town is the old bakery, revived by Kurdish fighters battling the IS group.
Closed down for some 20 years, the production line now bakes two tons of doughy bread every day to energise the fighters and feed the spatter of civilians left behind.
“We came and fixed up (the bakery) for use in these difficult times,” said Fathi Misiro, a fighter with the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, who works in the bakery. “Ten days ago… it was worse here. We’ve been helping people and sending bread to them daily.”
An exclusive report shot by video-journalist Jake Simkin inside Kobani late last month offered a rare, in-depth glimpse of the destruction that more than two months of fighting has inflicted on the Kurdish town in northern Syria by the Turkish border.
Outside the bakery, children playfully jump in and out of foxholes — barely fazed by the thunderous explosions nearby. Kobani as it was has been virtually erased. Rubble is all that remains of people’s homes and their memories. Shops are gutted. Schools are flattened.
But the battle comes at a heavy price for the town’s remaining residents. While most managed to flee across the nearby border with Turkey, some 2,000 Kurdish civilians opted to stay with the hope that fighting will soon subside. It is a small fraction of the population of 50,000 that once filled these streets.
They sleep in their cars or makeshift tents on the outskirts of the town, where barbed wire and land mines mark the Turkish border. Militant-fired mortars rain down on them regularly. Some farmers escaped with their machinery and livestock. Others lost everything.
“My sheep were taken. I lost my cow, for God’s sake, my hens, my bedding, our sacks of wheat were stolen,” said one woman interviewed in the video report, expressing gratitude for the bread the YPG fighters are providing.
Then, there are those who lost loved ones as the militants moved in. Another woman named Parvin had to carry her two injured daughters to safety after they were hit by mortar fire. Her 7-year-old was then sent to Turkey and died there.
“We brought her body back and buried her here in Kobani,” said Parvin, her heartache written on her face. She and the other farmer spoke on condition they remain anonymous or be identified only by first name for fear of reprisals.
On the front lines of the battle for Kobani, Kurdish female fighters have been playing a major role in helping defend the Syrian town from an onslaught by the IS.
Pervin Kobani, the 19-year-old daughter of a farmer, is one of them. She is part of a team holding an eastern front-line position that comes under regular attack from the fighters, who have been trying to seize the town since mid-September.
It also illustrated what life is like for fighters like Pervin, who says she doesn’t really have dreams beyond the present. “We must save our love for Apo, and Kurdistan and our martyrs,” she said, referring to Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose group has been fighting Turkey for Kurdish autonomy.
Nearby, one of Pervin’s comrades saw something moving amid the destroyed remains of central Kobani and opened fire.
Pervin left home and took up arms two years ago as the overstretched forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad withdrew from Kurdish areas in northern Syria. She joined the Syrian Kurdish women’s self-defence force, known by its Kurdish acronym YPJ. The female YPJ fighters are now integrated with the men’s units, the YPG. — AP
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