Kurdish Resistance & Liberation writes: UPDATE: Good news! Absolutely brilliant news! ISIS have been knocked out of the city almost completely and are fast being pushed back. News first broke through of US airstrikes which were becoming very effective suddenly, even more so than previous episodes. Following this was the news that YPG was making huge gains on the western front, the weakest link in ISISs offensive. Initial reports suggested they had gone up to 7kms but reports are now suggesting 6kms (doesnt make a difference really but accuracy is important). The push there culminated in the capturing of the town Tal Shair. The news is a little bit more vague on the southern and eastern fronts except for one thing: ISIS have been pushed back. Some Kurdish sources suggest there is no ISIS presence at all in the city anymore but I dont believe that. Sources on twitter suggest that there is still fighting in both the southern and eastern fronts but that YPG are advancing fast. Suggestions that YPG are going slow as ISIS have hidden themselves in the areas they had previously controlled. Some comments in regards to airstrikes: The US announced overnight that they had carried out 21 airstrikes in Kobane yesterday. That is a significant jump. A spokesperson indicated that it wasnt a signal of a changing strategy but rather a continuation of the same one originally in place. Im not sure I believe that. I wrote over a week ago of word that YPG and the Coalition had dialogue which led to the airstrikes becoming more effective. However, I read a report a few days ago which suggested this dialogue was an indirect one: YPG was in contact with the Kurdish administration in bashur who were in turn passing on info to the Coalition. In addition, Mutlu had an article published a few days ago which I posted on here. He said something interesting in that article (& I forgot to highlight to everyone): basically that certain airforces (meaning Arab ones) werent really trying to hit ISIS. They were simply dropping bombs in the region they were told the enemies were and flying away. Now theres a heavy accusation in there and we should be careful not to jump to any conclusions but it does perhaps answer (mine and others) confusion as to why the airstrikes would go through phases of effectiveness and ineffectiveness. Polat Can (YPG spokesman - you can find him on twitter) yesterday confirmed that YPG now had a representative in the Coalition bases. Around the same time, certain sources suggested that the sudden rise in the number of airstrikes as well as effectiveness highlighted a direct link between YPG and the coalition as opposed to the previous indirect link. (Check Avashins timeline & give him a follow if you are on twitter - VERY good source: @Avashin) Furthermore, Avashin also asked people to respect the media blackout in regards to the YPG fighting ISIS west of Serekaniye (the YPG from the Cizire canton). Again, I feel this is further evidence that there is a push occurring there or that there are gains being made by YPG on that front. The aim is to create a corridor with those in Kobane. In conclusion, the mood has made a 180 degree turn from just a few days ago. It is a good summary, in general, of the nature of this war. This indicates (to me at least) that despite these gains, we must be vigilant in case of a reversal of fortunes. The frontlines have generally been fluid, moving back and forth quickly so lets wait and see if we can take advantage of these gains.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 09:42:24 +0000
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