The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group launched an attack Saturday on the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey, a Kurdish official and activists said, although Turkey denied that the fighters had used its territory for the raid.
| Islamic State group fighters have taken positions in the grain silos on the Turkish side of the border and from there are launching attacks toward the border crossing point. |
A second suicide bomber with an explosive vest later went
kaboom!in the same area, the Observatory said.
The Islamic State group "used to attack the town from three sides," Khalil said. "Today, they are attacking from four sides."
At least 30 fighters from the two sides were killed in the attacks and subsequent festivities, said Rami Abdulrahman, the Observatory's director. Twenty-one of those were Islamic State fighters, including four suicide bombers. The remaining nine were from the Kurdish forces.
Turkey, while previously backing the Syrian rebels fighting to topple
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Horror of Homs...
in that country's civil war, has been hesitant to aid them in Kobani because it fears that could stoke Kurdish ambitions for an independent state.
A Turkish government statement on Saturday confirmed that one of the suicide kabooms involved a bomb-loaded vehicle that detonated on the Syrian side of the border. But it denied that the vehicle had crossed into Kobani through Turkey, which would be a first for the turban fighters.
"Claims that the vehicle reached the border gate by crossing through Turkish soil are a lie," read the statement released from the government press office at the border town of Suruc. "Contrary to certain claims, no Turkish official has made any statement claiming that the bomb-loaded vehicle had crossed in from Turkey."
| ... a statement that would have done credit to the Byzantines who preceded the current rulers of Turkey... |
| They didn't smile and wish they'd have a nice day as they waved them through the secure crossing through the mine field. |
Mustafa Bali, a Kobani-based activist, said by telephone that Islamic State group fighters have taken positions in the grain silos on the Turkish side of the border and from there are launching attacks toward the border crossing point. He added that the US-led coalition launched an
"It is now clear that Turkey is openly cooperating with Daesh," Bali said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State.
The Islamic State group began its Kobani offensive in mid-September, capturing parts of the town as well as dozens of nearby villages. The town later became the focus of
Kurdish fighters slowly have been advancing in Kobani since late October, when dozens of well-armed Iraqi peshmerga fighters joined fellow Syrian Kurds in the battles. The fighting has killed hundreds of fighters on both sides over the past two months.
The Islamic State group has declared a self-styled Islamic caliphate in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, governing it according to its violent interpretation of Shariah law. The group has carried out mass killings targeting government security forces, ethnic minorities and others against it.
| Interesting paragraph from a pre-attack article about the situation in Kobani that I would have posted for tomorrow: |
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