Kurds urge more air strikes in Kobani; monitor warns of defeat

A group that monitors the Syrian civil war said the Kurdish forces faced inevitable defeat in Kobani if Turkey did not open its border to let through arms, something Ankara has appeared reluctant to do.

The U. S. - led coalition escalated air strikes on ISIL in and around Kobani, also known as Ayn al - Arab, some four days ago. The main Kurdish armed group, the YPG, said in a statement the air strikes had inflicted heavy losses on ISIL, but had been less effective in the last two days.

A Kurdish military official, speaking to Reuters from Kobani, said street fighting was making it harder for the warplanes to target ISIL positions.

" We have a problem, which is the war between houses, " said Esmat Al - Sheikh, head of the Kobani defense council.

" The air strikes are benefiting us, but ISIL is bringing tanks and artillery from the east. We didn’t see them with tanks, but yesterday we saw T - ۵۷ tanks, " he added.

While ISIL has been able to reinforce its fighters, the Kurds have not. IS has besieged the town to the east, south and west, meaning the Kurds’ only possible supply route is the Turkish border to the north.

The U. N. envoy to Syria on Friday called on Turkey to help prevent a slaughter in Kobani, asking it to let " volunteers " cross the frontier to reinforce Kurdish forces defending the town that lies within sight of Turkish territory.

Turkey has yet to respond to the remarks by Staffan de Mistura, who said he feared a repeat of the ۱۹۹۵ Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. Kurdish leaders in Syria have asked Ankara to establish a corridor through Turkey to allow aid and military supplies to reach Kobani.

A senior Kurdish militant has threatened Turkey with a new Kurdish revolt if it sticks with its current policy of non - intervention in the battle for Kobani.

ISIL " is getting supplies and men, while Turkey is preventing Kobani from getting ammunition. Even with the resistance, if things stay like this, the Kurdish forces will be like a car without fuel, " said Rami Abdelrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria through sources on the ground.

U. S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Saturday that retired General John Allen, a U. S. envoy charged with building an international coalition against ISIL, had just returned to Washington and reported progress.

" There was considerable progress made by General Allen specifically with Turkey, " Hagel told a news conference in Santiago. He said U. S. military teams would hold talks in Turkey next week.

" They’ll be spending a good deal(of time) next week with Turkey’s general staff and appropriate leaders going through the specifics of Turkey’s commitments to help the coalition specifically to train and equip areas of their contribution, " he added.