Street fighting rages in Syrian town as ISIL moves in

News code : ۲۶۹۵۲۱

ILNA: Street fighting raged between Kurdish defenders and ISIL terrorist group who advanced into Kobani on Monday after subjecting the Syrian border town to an assault lasting almost three weeks, residents and fighters said; Reuters reported.

ISIL had earlier raised its black flag over a building in the outskirts and forced thousands more of Kobani’s mainly Kurdish inhabitants to flee for their lives across the nearby border into Turkey.

The head of the Kurdish forces defending the town said late on Monday that ISIL forces were ۳۰۰ meters inside Kobani’s eastern district and were shelling the remaining neighborhoods.

" We either die or win. No fighter is leaving, " Esmat al - Sheikh, leader of the Kobani Defense Authority, told Reuters. " The world is watching, just watching and leaving these monsters to kill everyone, even children…but we will fight to the end with what weapons we have. "

Strikes by American and Persian Gulf state warplanes have failed to halt ISIL’s advance on the town, which it has besieged from three sides and pounded with heavy artillery.

Forced to flee Kobani by the latest fighting, frightened residents crossed into Turkey through Yumurtalik, an improvised border crossing, and ambulances with blaring sirens shuttled back and forth between the Syrian town and Turkey.

" We can hear the sound of clashes on the street, " Parwer Ali Mohamed, a translator for the Kurdish Democratic Union Party(PYD), told Reuters by phone as he fled. " More than ۲,۰۰۰ people including women and children are being evacuated. Turkish police are checking our luggage now. "

A black flag belonging to ISIL terrorist group was visible from across the Turkish border atop a four - storey building close to the scene of some of the fiercest clashes in recent days.

Mortars have rained down on residential areas of Kobani, and stray fire has hit Turkish territory frequently in recent days wounding people and damaging houses.

ISIL terrorist group also fought intense battles over the weekend for control of Mistanour, a strategic hill overlooking Kobani. A video released by the group on Sunday appeared to show its fighters in control of radio masts on the summit, but the footage could not be independently confirmed.

Turkey’s pro - Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party called for street demonstrations in Turkey to protest at ISIL’s assault on Kobani, where the situation was " extremely critical ".

Militants also carried out two suicide attacks in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, the Observatory said, killing at least ۳۰ people.

" The attacks targeted checkpoints run by Kurdish fighters on the western entrance of the city. They occurred within minutes of each other, " Abdelrahman said.

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