MESOP Syria Daily: Has the Islamic State Been Defeated in Kobane?

 By Scott Lucas October 18, 2014 07:16 – There are conflicting reports on Saturday morning over whether the Islamic State has been fully ejected from the Kurdish center of Kobane in northern Syria, after almost two weeks of fighting inside the town. The New York Times is a platform for the optimists, with Kurds, Americans, and Syrian insurgents all speaking of heavy losses for the Islamic State as it lost territory.Following the assertion on Friday by a Kurdish official that the Islamic State was out of Kobane, though still fighting on the eastern outskirts, a Syrian insurgent commander on the western front said:

ISIS is retreating and we are advancing. Airstrikes destroyed most of their heavy weapons. Those who are left in the city center don’t have a way out….The battle will be ending soon.US spokesman General Lloyd Austin repeated claims of hundreds of jihadists killed by American-led airstrikes:

The enemy has made a decision to make Kobani his main effort….

My goal is to defeat and ultimately destroy ISIL. And if he continues to present us with major targets, as he has done in the Kobani area, then clearly, we’ll service those targets.

However, Austin cautioned that it was still “highly possible that Kobane could still fall”, and other outlets say the Islamic State still holds up to 1/3 of the town.

Al Jazeera reports continuing explosions and gunfire inside Kobane, with the jihadists still in southern and eastern sections. Kurdish official Idris Nassan gives a differing assessment from counterparts in other reports:

We need more air strikes, as well as weaponry and ammunition to fight them on the ground.

If we get extra weapons we need this could be over soon — but if it’s only airstrikes then this will be a long battle unfortunately. http://eaworldview.com/2014/10/syria-daily-islamic-state-defeated-kobane/