Enemy tactics: Kurdish female suicide bomber ‘attacks ISIS jihadists’ in Kobane
In a desperate battle for the Islamic State-besieged Syrian border town of Kobane, a Kurdish woman has reportedly used tactics usually employed by radical Islamist militants, blowing herself up to kill several jihadists.
READ MORE: Battle for Kobane: Turkey fires tear gas at activists trying to enter Syria (VIDEO)
The woman, identified as a commander in the female unit of the
Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), targeted a position of
Islamic State (IS, ISIS/ISIL) fighters by detonating a grenade,
AFP reported, citing the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights.
The group could not confirm the number of ISIS militants killed
in the attack but said that “the operation caused deaths.”
The incident reportedly took place east of Kobane (also known as
Ayn al-Arab), the northern Syrian town facing a fierce onslaught
of IS. The jihadist group had earlier pledged to overrun the town
by the beginning of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of Sacrifice.
READ MORE: The amazing (and bizarre) homemade Kurdish armor fighting ISIS in Syria
While the attack could not be independently verified, the situation in Kobane has been getting increasingly desperate. The fighting has already prompted some 186,000 Kurds to flee the area across the border into Turkey, and groups of Kurdish volunteers wishing to cross into Syria to defend the town against IS on Saturday clashed with tear gas-firing Turkish security forces refusing to let them pass.
Around 100,000 people are still staying in Kobane amid the violence, according to TASS.
Meanwhile, sources cited by CNN claimed that Islamic State
militants took a strategic hill near Kobane and entered its
southeastern edge on Sunday evening, with street battles
reportedly taking place in parts of the town.
IS had earlier surrounded the border town from three sides.
READ MORE: Driving through ghost town: RT's risky ride deep into ISIS-Kurdish frontline
While being the first report of a Kurdish suicide bombing against
the Islamic State, this was not the first reported act of
sacrifice on behalf of the local militia’s female brigades. Just
last week, Twitter exploded with messages on the death of
19-year-old Ceylan Ozalp, who allegedly took her life by the last
bullet she had rather than fall into the hands of IS.
Conflicting reports said that Ceylan was in fact alive and in a
different location than Kobane, but her quote from an earlier
interview with BBC has nevertheless gone viral on social media.
#RIP Ceylan Ozalp We’re not scared. We’ll fight to the last. We'd rather blow ourselves up than be captured by #ISpic.twitter.com/IVJ64VuGTy
— Mr. Tickle (@MrTickle3) October 5, 2014
“We’re not scared of anything…We’ll fight to the last. We’d
rather blow ourselves up than be captured by IS,” the female
Kurdish fighter said.
Idris Nahsen, a deputy minister of the Kurdish region, told AFP
that US air raids on IS were not enough to prevent them from
taking the town.
“They are not enough to defeat terrorist groups. The strikes
are helping but we need heavy weaponry, armoured vehicles,
cannons, rockets. They are one kilometre away in some places and
two or three kilometres in others,” Nahsen said.
Kurdish militia have long insisted they want more substantial
military aid and heavy weaponry from their Western backers, but
the US and its allies have so far refused to give them just that.
Instead, regular bombing sorties against IS positions and
hardware have become commonplace.
READ MORE: UK Kurds begin hunger strike, demand heavy weapons for ISIS fight
