ISIS Has Entered the Key Syrian Border Town of Kobani
Despite the help of U.S.-led air strikes, Kurdish fighters could not prevent the Sunni militants from closing in
The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) entered Kobani on the Syria-Turkey border Monday, after intense street fighting with Kurdish forces trying to defend the Syrian town, the BBC reports.
The Sunni militant extremists raised their black flags on several buildings, after pushing into three neighborhoods in the east of the city, also known as Ayn al-Arab.
Kobani has been besieged for three weeks, and more than 160,000 civilians have fled to the Turkish border.
ISIS fighters pushed through the defenses of the Syrian-Kurdish troops with tanks and artillery, killing many in street battles. The militants now have control of Mistenur, a key hill above the town, the BBC says.
<snip>
If the ISIS militants take control of Kobani, they will have a huge strategic corridor along the Turkish border, linking with the terrorist groups positions in Aleppo to the west and Raqqa to the east.
<snip>
http://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/