ISIS militants Infiltrate into Kobane, Commit Massacre

Kobane, Syria – Militants of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) infiltrated Thursday into the city of Kobane (Ain al-Arab) in the province of Aleppo, and seized control of a number of buildings downtown, local activists reported. Baran Mesko, a media activist based in Kobane, told ARA News that about a hundred militants were able to infiltrate the city at dawn of Thursday, coming from the southern countryside and disguised by uniforms of the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) fighters. “The militants took control of a number of high buildings in the city, deploying dozens of snipers on the roofs,” he added. Mesko reported that about seven car bomb attacks hit the city, leaving more than 40 people dead and 100 others injured, amid the exodus of civilians from the city towards the Turkish border. According to the same source, civilians are stuck in their homes because of IS snipers who topped high buildings in Maktalah area and hospital of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), coinciding with clashes between attackers and fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) at several points of the city. According to ARA News reporter on the Syrian-Turkish border, IS militants have targeted civilians in the streets, while clashes are taking place in the 48th Street, the area around the Gas Station of Mustafa Darwish, the headquarters of Secondary School and seat of government of Kobane Canton (linked to the Auto-Administration) Many dead bodies and wounded were seen in the streets of the city, without being able to lift them because of pro-IS snipers on the buildings. In the meantime, a suicide IS bomber attacked Thursday afternoon the border gate between Kobane in northern Syria and Turkish town of Mürşitpınar, causing dozens of casualties among civilians and military personnel. Speaking to ARA News, Amin Mohammed, a resident of Kobane reported that an IS suicidal militant blew himself up among dozens of wounded civilians and military personnel who were waiting permission from Turkish authorities to get access for treatment in Turkey. “Those wounded have turned into Martyrs in moments,” he said. On the other hand, the clashes are still continuing between the radical group and Kurdish fighters of the YPG, coinciding with sorties by the U.S.-led coalition’s warplanes.