Death toll may rise as Kobanê clashes ongoing
KOBANÊ (DİHA) - In the wake of Daesh's attack on the city of Kobanê, clashes between YPG/YPJ forces and Daesh attackers are ongoing in several areas. The wounded have been rushed across the Turkish border for hospital treatment.
Around 5:00 a.m., Daesh gangs entered the city of Kobanê through the Mürşitpınar border gate with Turkey. Daesh gangs launched an initial attack with an explosive-laden motorcycle and a second with a bomb-laden car that crossed into the city through the Turkish border gate. As civilians fled their homes at the sound of an explosion, the gang members opened fire. Reports indicate that the deaths did not take place during the explosion, but rather when Daesh opened fire on fleeing civilians.
The initial attack killed 12 civilians; 38 were wounded.Local sources say the death toll may increase. The wounded were brought across the border to Turkey for hospital treatment. They passed through a village (Boydê) rather than through the border gate from which Daesh launched the attack. Some wounded have been hospitalized in the border town of Suruç; those severely wounded have been taken to hospitals in the provincial center of Urfa.
In the wake of the attack, Daesh and YPG/YPJ forces began fighting in the city. Clashes are currently ongoing in the southern part of the city, the Kaniya Kurda neighborhood and the area near the border gate. Gunshots can be heard in the city and smoke is rising over several villages near the border gate.
Residents of the Kurdish town of Suruç, located just across the border from Kobanê, rushed to the border in the wake of the explosion. They found the road to the village of Boydê—where the wounded were transported to Turkey—blocked off by Turkish soldiers. Some headed for the nearby Seyir Hill to observe the clashes; others headed to local hospitals to give blood to the wounded.
YPG/YPJ forces have launched an operation to find the gang members in the city. There are two possible points where gang members may have infiltrated the area. Local sources say the gang members who initially entered with the explosive vehicles have likely infiltrated the southern area of Sırrın. There are reports that Daesh members have dressed in YPG clothing to pass checkpoints and are passing themselves off as members of the YPG/YPJ-allied Arab defense force Burkan al-Firat.
(cm/nt)
