MESOP : ISIS ON THE RUN ? – Kurdish forces regain 30km of Kobane’s countryside, pushing ISIS back

WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) – February 9, 2015 – ARA News – Suruc, Turkey –Kurdish military sources told ARA News on Sunday that Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) –backed by the Peshmerga forces and the Shams al-Shamal battalions of the Free Syrian Army (FSA)– reportedly advanced to approximately 30km of Kobane’s southern countryside, amid continued military operations against extremists of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS). This progress enabled Kobane’s defenders to liberate Rodko highway (linking Aleppo with Hasakah). Speaking to ARA News on the phone, Shorsh Dijla, a fighter in the ranks of the YPG said that early Sunday the joint forces liberated the villages of Zalkhik, Qomshi, and Brkh Batan, taking control of the entire strategic hill of Tel Saifi, which extends from Serrin to Qara Qozak bridge.

Dijla added that the Peshmerga forces stationed heavy weapons on Saifi hill and began shelling the IS military units around the town of Serrin (45 km south of Kobane). “This accelerated the evacuation movement of militants towards the town of Ain Issa and Raqqa,” the source added. In other developments, the YPG fighter Saeed Judi stated to ARA News that the so-called Abu Anas al-Halabi, IS-linked head of Manbij prison (who used to supervise Kurdish detainees in the IS prisons in northern Syria) was captured by the Kurdish forces on Sunday, during clashes in the vicinity of the village of Barkh Batan south of Kobane. “Al-Halabi’s guards were killed during the clashes,” Judi added. According to Kurdish military sources, the IS militants are showing less resistance in the battles of Kobane’s countryside. Reporting by: Mohammed Ali Ahmed – Source: ARA News