Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The New Yorker

A Victory in Kobani?
By Robin Wright 

The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has suffered its first major defeat in Syria. An unusual coalition—Kurdish warriors fighting room to room on the ground and Western warplanes bombing on a daily basis from the skies—has forced the militants out of Kobani, a dusty Syrian town that was built around a train stop near the Turkish border a century ago.


Kurds hoisted their yellow flag atop Kobani’s highest hill late on Monday, to replace the Islamic State’s black-and-white banner. The fighters, who had only vintage arms, danced by firelight into the night. U.S. Central Command praised the Kurds for fighting “aggressively, with resilience and fortitude.” Since October, Kobani has been the test case for American power against the jihadi onslaught.

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