U.S. Led Airstrikes on Syria Kill More Than 500 People in First Month

U.S. led airstrikes targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) have killed over 500 people in Syria during their first month, a monitoring group reports. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, 553 people have been killed since airstrikes began on 23 September, including 32 civilians.

The vast majority of the deaths, 464, were militants from ISIS, many of whom died in battle in Kobani. Fifty-seven fighters from the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front were killed in airstrikes elsewhere in northern Syria.

US Central Command spokesman Major Curtis Kellogg said the U.S. military ‘has no evidence of civilian deaths at this time, Business Insider reports.

Inside Syria, there has been growing backlash in Syria against the U.S.-led campaign,. particularly as reports of civilian death tolls emerge. One of the chief complaints in rebel-held areas is that the airstrikes have not also targeted the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.S.-led coalition has been shelling key ISIS targets, including oil facilities in Syria, which provide a key source of income for the militants. That also puts civilians at danger, given how deeply ISIS has entrenched itself in local communities and residential areas.

The Battle for Kobani Continues as Kurds Unite to Battle ISIS Threat

The battle for Kobani has seen some of its fiercest days of fighting, with ISIS launching an attack on three fronts.

On Thursday the militants reportedly captured the strategic hill of Tel Shair that overlooks Kobani, “closing in on the town from the west,” according to the Guardian. Control of the hill has flipped between Syrian Kurdish Fighters and ISIS in recent days. According to analysts, whoever controls the hill has a better chance at controlling Kobani, BBC News reports.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Central Command said its forces conducted more than 135 airstrikes against the militants in and around Kobani this week.

“Kobani appears in less danger of falling to the Islamic State, but the threat still remains,” U.S. officials said on Thursday. In response to pressure from the international community, Turkey said on Monday it would allow Iraqi Kurdish fighters, known as peshmerga, to cross its territory to aid Kurdish fighters battling the better-armed ISIS militants in Kobani. About 200 peshmerga fighters, armed with heavy weapons, would be involved in the deployment, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Following Iraqi Kurdistan who is sending its own peshmerga forces to relieve fellow Kurds in the Syrian town of Kobani, Syrian Kurdish factions signed a deal to share power in order to battle the ISIS threat, in a bid for greater unity.

In January the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the predominant political player in Syria’s Kurdish regions, established three “cantons” in northern Syria and declared self-rule. But other Kurdish parties rejected the move, according to Reuters. Kobani has become a major focal point in the war against ISIS, marking the rise of Kurdish influence in the fight against the extremist group.

“The Kurds are the main power fighting ISIS, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Iranian border,” analyst Mutlu Civiroglu told Syria Deeply.

“Syrian Kurds are becoming an important player both militarily and politically, not only in Syria but on the international stage as well,” he said.

Syrian Regime Reclaims Rebel Held Territory, in Offensive Around Urban Areas

As the fight against ISIS rages in the northeast of the country, President Bashar al-Assad has ramped up his efforts to reclaim rebel held-areas surrounding cities. On Thursday his government forces took control of the strategic town of Morek in central Syria, part of Hama province.

“Morek is important because it is on the main road linking Damascus to Aleppo in the north, large swathes of which of have been out of army control since a major rebel offensive in July 2012,” wrote AFP.

The news comes alongside speculation that Assad is benefitting from U.S.-led strikes on ISIS, using their cover to intensify attacks on rebel-held areas. According to AFP, the U.S. airstrikes on Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qeada-linked rebel group, gave regime forces an upper hand in the fight for Morek.

Lebanon Restricts Syrian Refugees from Entering the Country

Lebanon will no longer accept Syrian refugees, except in what authorities deem to be “exceptional” cases, AFP reports.

Lebanon said on Thursday that it will ask the U.N. to stop registering refugees from Syria, “as it formalized a decision to all but close its borders to them,” according to the wire.

“No more refugees will be allowed to cross the border except for extreme humanitarian cases,” Lebanon’s Information Minister Ramzi Joreige said to the Lebanese parliament. Security forces will be ordered to implement the decision, the Daily Star reports.

Ninette Kelley, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative in Lebanon, said the country has been restricting the entry of Syrians since August.

Lebanon is home to at least 1.1 million Syrian refugees, making up a quarter of its country’s population of 5 million people. The refugees have put a strain on Lebanon’s already fragile infrastructure and social cohesion.

This summer, as fighting escalated between the Lebanese army and Syrian militants, there were a rash of revenge attacks on Syrian refugees, including setting refugee tents on fire.

Recommended Reads

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• Washington Post: Obama Gives Syria’s Assad Another Pass on Chemical Weapons