Bombs Slam into ISIS Stronghold

USA Today reports from Rabia as the British Royal Air Force, part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), dropped bombs on the group’s last stronghold there.

“Thirty militants were holed up in an unfinished hospital, Alamo-style. Surrounded by 1,500 Kurdish troops, they were the remnants of a force [ISIS] had sent to Rabia,” it says.

“The others had been killed during the past day of fighting, fled across the border to Syria or moved east toward their stronghold of Mosul. Airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition gave cover to the Kurds as they began a push to retake a swath of land, including Rabia, snaking across the northern Iraq-Syria border.”

ISIS Advances Towards Kobani

Reuters reports that despite the strikes, ISIS “advanced to within a few miles of the mainly Kurdish border town of Kobani on three sides on Thursday, extending their gains after taking control of hundreds of villages around the town in recent weeks.

“Smoke rose behind hills to the south of Kobani as the insurgents continued their shelling into the night. Dozens of anti-tank missiles with bright-red tracers flashed through the sky as darkness enveloped the town. Kobani’s electricity supply was cut after militants bombarded a local power grid.

“In neighboring Iraq, which also borders Turkey, the insurgents have carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves, and used children as fighters in what may amount to war crimes, the United Nations said.”

Turkish MPs Vote to Back Military Involvement in Iraq and Syria

The Guardian reports that Turkey’s parliament has backed military involvement in Iraq and Syria as ISIS advances.

But action could be slow. The paper says: “Despite the 298-98 vote in Ankara for Turkey to use force against ISIS in neighboring countries, and to allow the transit on Turkish soil of allied forces conducting anti-Isis operations, the country’s defense minister, Ismet Yilmaz, said operations should not be expected immediately.

“The Pentagon said the U.S.-led coalition had conducted at least seven air sorties against ISIS around Kobani in the five days to Wednesday, but there were no reports of any strikes on Thursday as the jihadists reportedly came within sight of the city. Syrian human rights activists warned that without urgent intervention to protect the Kurds, the city could fall within hours.”