Sunday, October 19, 2014

Has Kobane become vortex of death for ISIS? ...

Has Kobane become vortex of death for ISIS? As U.S. jets obliterate fanatics from the air and Kurds suck them into street 'meat grinder', experts believe jihadists have finally made strategic miscalculation 

  • Islamic State militants may live to regret encouraging street battles with outgunned Kurdish forces inside Kobane
  • Barbaric terror group's tried and tested 'pincer movement' has previously forced enemies to retreat or even defect
  • Previously used to seize vast swathes of territory in north Syria and west Iraq, where security forces melted away
  • But Kobane is surrounded by desert, with Turkish border only 200 yards to the north, so Kurdish troops cannot flee 
  • Now Kurdish troops are engaging terrorists in street-to-street battles - a tactic that doesn't play to ISIS' strenghs

Islamic State militants have made fatal strategic mistakes in Kobane, allowing American and Arab warplanes to obliterate them from the air and Kurdish forces to suck them into unfamiliar 'meat grinder' street battles, an expert has claimed.
During the four-week battle for Kobane, ISIS has used the same tried and tested 'pincer movement' it deployed during the rapid seizure of vast swathes of northern Syria and western Iraq earlier this year.
In the majority of those lightning advances, ISIS was able to capture towns and cities with little to no resistance - as the group's reputation for torture and brutal murder ensured local security forces either defected or abandoned their posts, rather than face certain slaughter at the hands of the fanatics.
But as Kobane is located less than 200 yards south of the Turkish border fences and is surrounded largely by desert, the massively outgunned Kurdish fighters there have had nowhere to flee, encouraging them to gather in the centre of town and defend the city in furious street-to-street battles.
This is a tactic that does not play to ISIS' considerable armament strengths and leaves the militants out in the open for lengthy periods, where American and Arab warplanes can easily pick the fighters off.

Blast: A US-led airstrike on a Syrian gas facility in Kobane killed at least eight people yesterday afternoon. It had been held by militants from the Islamic State terror group, who expert Justin Bronk believes has made fatal errors in its attempt to capture the city
Blast: A US-led airstrike on a Syrian gas facility in Kobane killed at least eight people yesterday afternoon. It had been held by militants from the Islamic State terror group, who expert Justin Bronk believes has made fatal errors in its attempt to capture the city
 Flames of war: An American airstrike destroys an Islamic State target inside Kobane, sending a massive column of fire into the air
 Flames of war: An American airstrike destroys an Islamic State target inside Kobane, sending a massive column of fire into the air
Blown up: The night sky is lit up by a huge ball of fire following air strikes in Kobane by American and Arab warplanes
Blown up: The night sky is lit up by a huge ball of fire following air strikes in Kobane by American and Arab warplanes
Battle ready: Armed Kurdish fighters take their positions next to a machine gun fitted truck in Kobani today
Battle ready: Armed Kurdish fighters take their positions next to a machine gun fitted truck in Kobani today
Ready to strike: A U.S. Air Force B1-B warplane is seen flying above the Syrian town of Kobane on a bombing raid last night
Ready to strike: A U.S. Air Force B1-B warplane is seen flying above the Syrian town of Kobane on a bombing raid last night
Syrian Kurdish refugees in Turkey watch as American and Arab warplanes carry out airstrikes on their hometown Kobane last night
Syrian Kurdish refugees in Turkey watch as American and Arab warplanes carry out airstrikes on their hometown Kobane last night
Haze: Heat generated by a massive explosion inside Kobane  yesterday evening creates an orange glow over an ISIS-held building
Haze: Heat generated by a massive explosion inside Kobane yesterday evening creates an orange glow over an ISIS-held building
Fire: Flames rise over an ISIS-held building inside Kobane following American and Arab airstrike yesterday evening
Fire: Flames rise over an ISIS-held building inside Kobane following American and Arab airstrike yesterday evening

The claim that ISIS may have made serious tactical errors in Kobane came from Justin Bronk, a research analyst in the military sciences program at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
Kobane is a 'very unusual operation' for ISIS as the pitched battles they forced by giving the Kurdish troops nowhere to run have left them particularly vulnerable to airstrikes, he wrote in an opinion article for CNN.
'Despite having surrounded Kobane and conducting aggressive and apparently well-coordinated infiltration attempts from multiple approaches, the sort of street-to-street 'meat grinder' that Kobane has become does not play to ISIS's strengths,' he said.
'Against an enemy with nowhere to retreat to and air support, a numerically limited force such as ISIS that normally relies as much on psychological effects as firepower to take ground faces a tough challenge,' he added. 
'This is just as well since on the ground, it is only the bravery of lightly armed Kurdish fighters standing between ISIS and control of the town. Airstrikes are essential but could not keep ISIS out of the town alone,' he went on to say. 
Detonate: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters detonate a land mine laid by ISIS fighters on the front line in the Gwer district, 40 kilometres south of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq
Detonate: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters detonate a land mine laid by ISIS fighters on the front line in the Gwer district, 40 kilometres south of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq
Find and destroy: A Kurdish Peshmerga scans the ground for land mines left by ISIS, as a fellow soldier watches on from behind
Find and destroy: A Kurdish Peshmerga scans the ground for land mines left by ISIS, as a fellow soldier watches on from behind
Slow and steady: A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds up a land mine detector, before scanning the earth for the deadly traps
Slow and steady: A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter holds up a land mine detector, before scanning the earth for the deadly traps
By night and day: American and Arab airstrikes against ISIS targets have been relentless for the past week, killing scores of militants
By night and day: American and Arab airstrikes against ISIS targets have been relentless for the past week, killing scores of militants
As the sun set in Kobane this evening, American and Arab warplanes carried out a number of bombing raids on ISIS militants
As the sun set in Kobane this evening, American and Arab warplanes carried out a number of bombing raids on ISIS militants
Destoryed: Thick smoke and debris rise from an airstrike by the US-led coalition on an ISIS-held building inside Kobane
Destoryed: Thick smoke and debris rise from an airstrike by the US-led coalition on an ISIS-held building inside Kobane
Thick smoke rises over an ISIS held building in Kobane yesterday evening following airstrikes by American and Arab warplanes
Thick smoke rises over an ISIS held building in Kobane yesterday evening following airstrikes by American and Arab warplanes

Earlier a US-led airstrike in Kobane killed at least eight suspected terrorists and set off a series of secondary explosions, analysts revealed.
The coalition bombers targeted a gas facility in the besieged city of Kobane on Friday, within the oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour, activist collective Deir el-Zour Free Radio said.
It is believed that the slain men were mostly fuel tanker drivers working for ISIS, with at least four of their charred bodies placed in a nearby mosque.
Another activist group, the Deir el-Zour Network, described 'long tongues of flames' from the strike.
ISIS' oil facilities in Syria have been aggressively targeted by coalition airstrikes, as they provide a key source of income for the militants. But such strikes also endanger civilians, which could undermine long-term efforts to destroy the group.
Other airstrikes late on Friday targeted oil wells in the Deir el-Zour province, the activists said.

SUPERMARKET JIHADI: IF YOU SMOKE OR PLAY MUSIC, I'LL HAVE YOU WHIPPED 


The 'Supermarket Jihadi' who left Britain to become a fighter in Syria is now a policeman for Islamic State, cracking down on such 'crimes' as smoking or listening to music.
Omar Hussain, 27, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, who was a former security guard for Morrisons, said on social media that he is now a member of the hisbah, the IS all-male police force.
The fanatic, who this month appeared in an IS video online in which he calls David Cameron a 'despicable swine', lives in Raqqa, where he arrests residents on the street or in their houses. Those found guilty of offences are lashed in public.
Last week, Hussain posted a picture on Facebook of cartons of cigarettes, which he boasted he had seized from a house.
Smoking or playing music is punishable with up to 30 lashes in IS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria.
Destroyed: A huge cloud of smoke rises over the Syrian city of Kobane following the U.S. led airstrikes
Destroyed: A huge cloud of smoke rises over the Syrian city of Kobane following the U.S. led airstrikes
Turkish Kurds watch smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobane after the airstrike on Friday
Turkish Kurds watch smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobane after the airstrike on Friday

The US-led coalition began a bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria in late September after striking at the extremists in neighboring Iraq, where they also hold swaths of territory.
Idriss Nassan, a senior Kobane official, said the airstrikes had helped halt the advance of the militants.
But he said the Kurdish fighters defending Kobane would need more weapons and ammunition to save the town.
'Airstrikes are not enough,' said Nassan. 'It's reduced ISIS, but it's not enough to defeat them,' he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State.

KURDS FIND VILE IMAGE OF BABY BEING 'BEHEADED' 


An horrific image has emerged of a baby girl moments from being beheaded by IS.
The picture is among several recovered by Kurdish soldiers from the mobile phones of dead fanatics in the Syrian town of Kobane.
It shows the child being pinned to the floor, in clear distress as a knife is held to her throat. It is feared she may have been beheaded along with her family for being an Alevi Muslim, a branch of Islam whose followers have been targeted by IS.
Other pictures show beheadings and jihadis playing football with the severed heads of victims.
They were found by Kurdish YPG fighters defending the besieged town, where more than 1,100 are thought to have been killed since last month. The photo of the girl is believed to have been taken a week last Friday. There were no shots of her decapitation and her body has not been found, leading some to hope she had a miraculous escape.
The many fighters who have circulated the picture on Facebook have nicknamed her 'Melek', meaning angel. One source, Ali, who obtained the picture from YPG soldiers, told The Mail on Sunday: 'The people of Kobane are desperate for the world to see with their own eyes the atrocities inflicted by these filth. Each time I look at this picture it makes me weep.
'You can see how frightened she is. I can almost hear her scream.What kind of depraved monsters are they? What pleasure can killing this child bring anyone?'
Soldiers said Melek, a woman and an older child – thought to be her mother and sister – were witnessed being dragged out of hiding by IS around the time of an air strike. 'Some have a flicker of hope in their hearts that they might have escaped,' added Ali.
Double strike: Multiple clouds of thick black smoke are seen in Kobane as U.S.-led bombing raids hit Islamic State targets
Double strike: Multiple clouds of thick black smoke are seen in Kobane as U.S.-led bombing raids hit Islamic State targets
ISIS oil facilities in Syria have been aggressively targeted by coalition airstrikes, as they provide a key source of income for the militants
ISIS oil facilities in Syria have been aggressively targeted by coalition airstrikes, as they provide a key source of income for the militants
United: Smoke from a mortar round explodes amid fighting between Kurdish troops and Islamic State militants inside Kobane yesterday
United: Smoke from a mortar round explodes amid fighting between Kurdish troops and Islamic State militants inside Kobane yesterday
Mushroom cloud: Smoke was seen hanging over Kobane yesterday as fighting continued to rage between Kurds and ISIS militants
Mushroom cloud: Smoke was seen hanging over Kobane yesterday as fighting continued to rage between Kurds and ISIS militants
 
Smoke rises after an US airstrike on the Islamic State stronghold in Kobani on Wednesday
The US-led coalition began a bombing campaign against the IS group in Syria in late September

Turkey has demanded that the coalition widen its campaign against the Isis group by providing greater aid to Syrian rebels, who are battling both the extremist group and President Bashar Assad's forces.
Syrian government airstrikes on a rebel-held town near Damascus killed at least 16 people, activists said today, as part of intensified efforts by government forces to secure approaches to the capital.
At least five strikes targeted the town of Douma on Friday evening, according to local activist Hassan Taqulden and the Britain-based Observatory.
The bombs killed at least three children and one woman, said the Observatory.
'There are people under the rubble and we can't help them,' Taqulden said.

BOY, 17, CRUCIFIED FOR THREE DAYS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF ISIS' HEADQUARTERS IN SYRIA

The sickening images were taken in the extremists' de facto capital Raqqa
The sickening images were taken in the extremists' de facto capital Raqqa

Islamic State militants have publicly crucified and murdered a teenager they accused of taking photographs of the terror group's headquarters in Syria.
Sickening images purportedly taken in the central square of the extremists' de facto capital Raqqa show the battered and bloodstained body of an unnamed 17-year-old boy strapped to a cross.
A handwritten placard hangs around the teenager's neck, accusing him of 'apostasy' - the abandonment of his religion - and says he had been crucified for three days after being caught receiving 500 Turkish lira for every photograph he took of an Islamic State military base.
The image of the murdered teenager appeared on a social media account of an activist group known as Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently. 
The group is made up of a handful of incredibly brave individuals who oppose ISIS and - despite the city being the group's de facto, the centre of its leadership and full of bloodthirsty religious police - attempt to document the violence the terrorists group has brought to their hometown.
The image has been circulated on Twitter both by anti-ISIS campaigners and by ISIS supporters, who sickeningly trumpet it as a positive example of the group's brutal interpretation of Islam.
Charlie Winter, programs officer at counter-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said crucifixion is a prescribed punishment meted out by Isis for specific crimes. 
'Crucifixion has been used many times before – it's an age-old punishment dealt out to people who have committed treason,' he told The Independent. 
Going nowhere: Turkish soldiers chat at the Syrian border yesterday afternoon while fighting raged 200 yards to the south in Kobane
Going nowhere: Turkish soldiers chat at the Syrian border yesterday afternoon while fighting raged 200 yards to the south in Kobane
At ease: Turkish tanks were at the Syrian border yesterday afternoon while fighting continued in Kobane (pictured in background)
At ease: Turkish tanks were at the Syrian border yesterday afternoon while fighting continued in Kobane (pictured in background)
Syrian Kurdish refugees in Turkey (pictured here and below) go about their lives while bombing continues in their home town Kobane

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