ALEPPO, Syria
The Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish peshmerga forces and People’s Protection Units, or YPG, backed by Free Syrian Army, have wrestled control of 65 villages in Kobani’s countryside from ISIL since Jan. 26 in northern Syria, according to a YPG source.
“Kurdish fighters are advancing rapidly because they know their area geographically very well and ISIL factions are withdrawing from one village after another,” Sharfan Abdi, a YPG commander, told The Anadolu Agency.
The YPG said in a written statement Thursday that their forces seized control of Tashlok village and are continuing to advance in western Kobani.
They also laid siege to the strategic villages of Sosani and Taltin and have killed 15 ISIL militants in these clashes as well as capturing the bodies of five militants and a number of crates of weapons and ammo, the statement said.
Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish forces have been fighting ISIL in Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, after militants captured a number of villages surrounding the Kurdish-populated city, which are only a few kilometers from Turkey’s southern border.
Around 180,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees have fled to Turkey since the battle for the strategic town erupted last year.
