LATEST: Insurgent Commander Shot During Islamic State Kidnap Attempt in Turkey
UPDATE 1830 GMT: Thousands have turned out for the funeral of a Kurdish fighter, Ekrem Hisem, killed in Kobane.
UPDATE 1445 GMT: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Ankara will not support any shipment of arms to the Syrian Kurdish party PYD, despite the threat to the town of Kobane from the Islamic State.
Erdoğan, speaking to reporters just before he had a phone conversation with President Obama, said the PYD was the same as the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), formally considered a terrorist group by Ankara:
At the moment, the PYD is equal with the PKK for us. It is also a terrorist organization.
It would be very wrong for America — with whom we are and allies and who we are together with in NATO — to expect us to say “yes” after openly announcing such support for a terrorist organization. It cannot expect such a thing from us and we cannot say “yes” to such a thing either.
The President said the US request to use İncirlik Air Base in southern Turkey for operations in Syria is not yet clear, but he did not rule out giving Washington permission.
If there is something we deem appropriate, we would discuss it with our security forces and we would say “yes”. But if it is not appropriate, then saying “yes” is not possible for us either.
The State Department confirmed last week that US officials met PYD representatives for the first time, in a meeting in Paris in early October.
Friday’s reports of an Islamic State retreat from Kobane, the Kurdish center in northern Syria, were followed on Saturday by a narrative of stalemate as fighting continued in the east of the town.
A reduction in US airstrikes on Friday and Saturday fed speculation that the jihadists had been pushed back, but the claim was countered by reports of jihadist car bombs, including this video:
While confirming the continued clashes in eastern Kobane, Kurdish sources said two car bombs were neutralized by the Kurdish militia YPG before they reached lines of defense.
The sources also gave an unconfirmed death toll of 1,294 jihadists, 133 YPG fighters, and 9 Free Syrian Army insurgents in the two-week battle for the town on the Turkish border.
Some Kurdish officials had claimed on Friday that the Islamic State had been evicted from Kobane, but this was replaced on Friday by warning of the ongoing fight and pleas for support:
'Lets not kid each other. Kurdish weapons +strikes can prevent ISIS advance but we need heavy weapons 2force them out' #Kobane defense chief
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) October 18, 2014
'#Kobane battle far from over. Morale high among Kurds. Our friends should give us heavy weapons if they want town liberated' Defense Chief
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) October 18, 2014
Meanwhile, despite the evacuation of up to 200,000 civilians from the Kobane area, some are still trapped in the town:
And for those who claim no civilians left in #Kobane, check pics that I just received of civilians at local clinic pic.twitter.com/zNrytrNyIs
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) October 18, 2014
Insurgent Commander Shot During Islamic State Kidnap Attempt in Turkey
A Syrian insurgent commander has been shot during an apparent kidnapping attempt by the Islamic State in the Turkish city of Urfa.
Abu Issa, the leader of the Thuwar Raqqa faction, and his son, Ammar were snatched from their car on Friday afternoon whilst returning home after meeting with Turkish officials in Urfa city centre, his aides said.
The kidnappers drove Abu Issa and his son at top speed towards the border, intending to go into Syria, but the plot failed when one of the smugglers working with the Islamic State backed out of the abduction. He left Abu Issa, reportedly shot through the side, at an Urfa hospital early Saturday morning.
The kidnappers and Abu Issa’s advisor, allegedly paid to betray his boss, were arrested by Turkish police.
Activist: US-Led Bombing Only Making Enemies of Locals in Eastern Syria
An activist in Abu Kumal on the Syria-Iraq border has raised questions about the effectiveness of the US-led airstrikes.
Abu Zeid Abdullah told Syria Direct of the Islamic State’s evasion of the bombing:
Lately, after the intense airstrikes, IS resorted to hiding within residential areas and took up positions there. These actions have scared families in the area, and caused them to flee from houses that are close to IS positions. Also, IS fighters avoid moving about and [when they do] they use motorcycles rather than cars.
Abdullah then explained how the attacks had alienated local people:
Some civilians have come to believe that these strikes aren’t intended to save them, but rather to destroy what’s left of infrastructure and essential institutions — especially after the coalition started to bomb primitive oil refineries, those that families had grown accustomed to extracting fuels from to help meet their daily needs.
Also, the coalition started to bomb grain silos and mills in northern Deir e-Zor [in eastern Syria]
Today, people consider IS, coalition forces, and the Syrian regime to all be on the same level — “they’re all criminals”, because they all engage in killing, forced displacement, detentions, and massacres against civilians, and haven’t provided them with any aid.
Report: Two Jordanian Salafists Join Islamic State in Syria
Jordanian Salafists Omar Mahdi Zeidan and Saad Hneity have joined the Islamic State in Syria, according to jihadist sources.
The sources said Zeidan, a cleric who is an influential speaker and youth leader, arrived last week in Raqqa, the Islamic State’s main position in Syria.
Hneity, the deputy leader of the Jordanian Salafist movement, confirmed via Twitter and Facebook on Friday that he had arrived on “caliphate soil”.
Hneity was also in Syria in February in an attempt to mediate a conflict between the Islamic State and Jabhat Al Nusra. He is believed to have been an advisor to the Islamic State since then.
About 20 Jordanian clerics are now thought in leadership posts within the jihadist movement.
Around 1,200 Jordanians are fighting with the Islamic State, jihadist sources claim.