Kobani Canton Defense Minister Ismet Sheikh Hassan. Photo: ANF
KOBANI, Syrian Kurdistan,— All findings on the Islamic State group (IS) attack on border Kobani town of Syrian Kurdistan in which tens of civilians were brutally massacred point at Turkey’s central role in the attack. The Minister of Self-Defense for the Kobani Canton Ismet Sheikh Hassan who spoke to ANF stated that it was impossible to attack the border gate with vehicles full of explosives from anywhere but Turkey.
Tens of civilians, predominantly women and children, were massacred Report Ekurd
IS militants infiltrated into Kobani from Turkey on Thursday and carried out several attacks in and around the city center that claimed the lives of tens of civilians. IS militants blasted a vehicle near Mürşitpınar border gate and attacked the villages of Kaniya Kurda and Berxbatan as well as the Hellince road and the government building with bombs, rifles and snipers. 107 civilians were massacred during the attacks and many others were wounded.
‘YPG/YPJ responded strongly’
YPG/YPJ forces responded strongly to IS attacks and encircled IS groups in Şehid Moro neighborhood, Qada Azadi, Kaniya Kurda and Kobani high school. YPG/YPJ fighters killed tens of IS militants, expulsed all gang members except for the ones in Kobani high school, and caught 3 jihadi militants alive.
An attack similar to the one that happened on november 29
IS militants’ attack on Kobani yesterday resembles the one that happened on November 29 in many aspects. IS members had also crossed into Kobani from Turkey back then and attacked in 3 different locations. Thursday’s attack began with the bomb attack on the border gate and continued in different locations.
The only route to use in the border gate attack: Turkish soil
It is certain that the IS jihadi militants who infiltrated from Turkey carried out the attacks on the border gate and Kaniya Kurda because transportation to these places from another location is geographically impossible. There are dozens of YPG/YPJ checkpoints on the way to the border gate and Kaniya Kurda from within Syria and Rojava, and YPG/YPJ forces prevented previous suicide attack attempts before the jihadists reached the city center.
Cerablus road to the west, Halep road to the south, and the Hellince road to the east of Kobani are the only roads IS militants could have used for transportation, which are under heavy YPG/YPJ control. Even during the IS occupation of Kobani last December, explosive vehicles were blasted and prevented from reaching Kobani by YPG/YPJ fighters. IS militants have been aware of these YPG/YPJ preventions and had not tried similar suicide missions since Kobani resistance.
Attacks came from Turkey
The attacks at the border gate came from Turkey and anyone could see this when they watch the video footage of the explosive vehicle entering Kobani. IS militants who infiltrated in the town from the border gate and Kaniya Kurda had uniforms identical to Turkish military clothes and had shaved their beards in order to pass as Turkish soldiers and avoid detection.
In light of all these events, YPG/YPJ’s main success has been capturing 3 IS militants alive and the information they will give during interrogation will be crucial. Turkey’s gun and personnel support to IS, witness statements, seized documents, and the details of the last IS attack point at Turkey as the center in which this IS massacre was planned.
IS militants coming from Hellince road wore FSA uniforms, the IS militants who attacked the villages nearby had YPG uniforms on them and the IS militants coming from Kaniya Kurda wore Turkish military outfits. This method has also been widely used by the Turkish military in counter guerilla activities in Northern Kurdistan.
Anadolu Agency’s (aa) journalism success!
Another important detail of the attacks is Anadolu Agency’s live coverage of the explosion in the Mürşitpınar border gate. This suggests that either AA was informed about the attacks before they took place, or IS militants shared the video footage of the attack with AA. Either possibility points at the complex relations and cooperation between IS and the Turkish state, since there is no way for AA to provide live coverage for the attacks that were carried out in great secrecy.
‘It is not possible for is to reach the border gate through kobani’
Kobani Canton Defense Minister Sheikh Hassan confirmed our findings on the attacks and said that both the witness statements of YPG/YPJ fighters as well as video recordings confirm these findings.
Sheikh Hassan highlighted the impossibility of bringing explosive vehicles to the border gate through Kobani, and said that they would share more details on the attack in the near future.
Erdogan denies Islamic State launched attack on Syria’s Kobani from Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday dismissed as “propaganda” accusations that Islamic State fighters had been allowed to cross from Turkey into Syria to launch a fresh assault on the symbolic battleground Kurdish town of Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan.
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