UN fears massacre, asks Turkey to intervene as IS takes ground in Kobane

Jihadists captured the headquarters of Kurdish fighters defending the battleground Syrian town of Kobane Friday as a UN envoy warned of a looming “massacre” by the Islamic State group. Outgunned Kurdish militia were struggling to prevent the jihadists closing off the last escape route for the thousands of civilians still in or near the town, prompting an appeal for urgent military assistance. UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura appealed to Turkey to take any action it could to protect the 12,000 or so civilians still in or near the town, warning they “will be most likely massacred” if captured by IS fighters.

If they [capture the headquarters], they will have the Kurdish forces inside Kobane completely surrounded.

Rami Abdel Rahman, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

US-led warplanes have intensified air strikes against IS fighters who have been attacking Kobane for three weeks but the Pentagon has warned that, without a force on the ground to work with, there are limits to what can be done. Neighbouring Turkey has so far held back from any action against the jihadists on its doorstep, despite four straight nights of protests among its own large Kurdish minority that have left 31 people dead. The jihadists’ advance has brought the front line to just 1.3 kilometres (little more than three-quarters of a mile) from the border. IS now controls 40 percent of Kobane, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “The capture of the headquarters will allow the jihadists to advance on the border post with Turkey to the north of the town,” its director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. As fighting raged in the strategic town, an IS militant on Friday carried out a suicide car bomb attack to the west of the Kurdish headquarters, the Observatory said. There were no immediate details on casualties. US planes conducted nine new airstrikes in Syria on Thursday and Friday, the US military said.

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