MESOP Syria Daily: Will US & Turkey Agree on a Strategy Over Kobane — and Beyond?

By Scott Lucas October 10, 2014 08:46 Updated  – UPDATE 1600 GMT: The US has again indicated that it is prepared to accept an Islamic State takeover of Kobane.

Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken echoed the assessment of Kurdish officials that the jihadists now have 40% of the town, including the area where the Kurdish administration had been based. He then said:

I don’t know what’s going to happen because again in the absence of any ground force there, it is going to be difficult just through air power to prevent [Isis] from potentially taking over the town.Talking about the significance of the loss of the town, Blinken said, “There are other Kobanis in Iraq, there are other Kobanis in Syria on a daily basis.”

Meanwhile, the UN envoy for Syria, Steffan da Mistura, said about 500 to 700 elderly people and other civilians are still trapped in Kobane, with 10,000 to 13,000 are stuck in a nearby area on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey.

Da Mistura appealed to Turkish authorities “to allow the flow of volunteers at least, and their equipment to be able to enter the city to contribute to a self-defence operation”, and then indicated that they should send in ground forces “to support the deterrent actions of the coalition through whatever means from their own territory”.

UPDATE 1300 GMT: Kurdish sources tell journalist Jenan Moussa of the Islamic State’s renewed