WUNRN
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/568752/20141007/arin-mirkan-kurdish-female-soldier-suicide-bomber.htm
SYRIA - KURDISH FEMALE FIGHTER,
MOTHER OF 2, CARRIES OUT SUICIDE BOMBING AGAINST ISIL, NEAR TURKISH BORDER
First reported instance of a female Kurdish fighter
carrying out a suicide bombing against Isil as jihadists draw within a mile of
town on Turkish border
The woman, named on social media
as Arin Mirkan, reportedly blew herself up at an Isil position east of the
border town of
It was the first reported
instance of a female Kurdish fighter carrying out a suicide bombing against
Isil, which has itself often favoured the tactic, according to the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights.
The attack came as Kurdish
fighters backed by US-led air strikes battled Isil jihadists for control of the
town on the Turkish border on Sunday.
Isil fighters had seized part of
the strategic Mishtenur hill overlooking the town of
A Kobane local official, Idris
Nahsen, said Isil fighters were less than a mile from the town, and that air
strikes alone were not enough to stop them.
He complained of a lack of
co-ordination between the coalition and Kurdish fighters on the ground.
Seven new coalition strikes against
Isil positions were carried out in the area late on Saturday, the Observatory
said. In a statement, the
The source of the fire was
unclear, but as a security precaution Turkish forces ordered the evacuation of
residents from two small border villages.
They also fired tear gas to clear
the border zone around the Mursitpinar crossing that has served as the main
vantage point for watching the fighting for reporters and Kurds.
The toll for fighting on Sunday
was not known, but the Observatory, which relies on a network of local sources,
said at least 33 Isil fighters and 23 of the town's Kurdish defenders were
killed on Saturday.
Isil began its advance on Kobane
on September 16, seeking to cement its grip over a long stretch of the
Syria-Turkey border.
The offensive prompted a mass
exodus from the town and surrounding countryside, with some 186,000 fleeing
into
After first launching strikes
against Isil in
Turkish media reported on Sunday
that the leader of the main Syrian Kurdish political party – Democratic Union
Party (PYD) chief Salih Muslim – was in
Reports said the party chief was
told the PYD should distance itself from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which waged a deadly insurgency in
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