{UAH} ISIS edging closer to Baghdad despite U.S.-led bombing campaign

ISIS edging closer to Baghdad despite U.S.-led bombing campaign

Republish Reprint

Ruth Sherlock in Beirut, Robert Tait in Mursitpinar, Turkey and Carol Malouf, The Telegraph | September 29, 2014 | Last Updated:Sep 29 8:08 PM ET
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AP PhotoAn Iraqi Shiite militiaman aims his weapon after clashes with ISIS militants, in Jurf al-Sakhar, 43 miles (70 kilometres) south of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014.

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The Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham made fresh advances in both Syria and Iraq Monday in defiance of the escalating U.S.-led bombing campaign against the jihadist group.

For almost two months now, Tomahawk missiles and F22 Raptor jet fighters have bombarded the bases, strategic assets and front-line positions of ISIS.

But the group's encroachment on Baghdad is steadily progressing and it is also close to seizing a key Kurdish town on the Syria-Turkey border.

In Iraq, ISIS gunmen were reported to be only 10 kilometres from some points of the capital Baghdad and were holding their ground at a front line on the major northern highway to Fallujah. In Syria, its fighters were closing in on Kobani on the Turkish border.

In the past year, ISIS has grown to become the world's best equipped militia group. Kobani came under a bombardment from the group, prompting fears from locals the town might soon fall.

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At least 15 shells struck the central, western and eastern areas of Kobani. The assault came as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the U.K.-based monitoring group, reported ISIS fighters advancing to within 5 km of the east and south-east of the town. Kobani, which is defended by a volunteer force, has been bracing itself for a takeover for more than a week.

On the Turkish side, ambulances raced to and from the border crossing at Mursitpinar, taking casualties to hospital. Reporters saw an aid convoy approaching the border, accompanied by Turkish armoured personnel carriers.

Another missile was said to have landed in Turkish territory, close to where security forces fired tear gas at Kurdish protesters from Turkey who had been trying to cross the border to relieve their compatriots in Syria.

With Kobani's prospects looking increasingly dire, more than 20 Turkish tanks were stationed on a nearby hill.

The ISIS attack came despite a barrage of U.S.-led air strikes overnight on the jihadists' positions around Kobani. Yasin Abo Raed, a media activist for the group, Syria Live Network, said a school was being used as a prison in Manbij, south-east of Kobani, had been destroyed, but the number of casualties was unknown.

About 160,000 Syrian Kurds have flooded into Turkey since last weekend, amid tales of beheadings and other atrocities carried out by the jihadists as they have captured as many as 200 villages in the region.

Mohammed Bakir, 56, a farmer with two sons fighting in the Kurdish units, described how jihadists killed 29 people and took 150 prisoner when they overran his village of Buban more than a week ago.

"Some of them were children in the ninth grade at school, aged around 13 and 14," he said. "They also killed my friend Ahmad. I called his number and a jihadist answered. I asked, 'Where's Ahmad?' He said, 'If you want him come here and pick up his head?' "

The jihadists are also on the march in central Iraq. ISIS gunmen have sought to control Amariya al-Fallujah, 40 km east of Baghdad since the weekend, although their advance was stalled Monday afternoon after air strikes on the area.

AP Photo/Hadi MizbanKurdish Peshmerga fighters stand guard on the front line with the Islamic State group in Kirkuk, 290 kilometres (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Sept. 29, 2014.

The aerial bombardments have forced ISIS to slow its attacks in some areas and to retain a less obvious presence on the ground, but there is no indication the group is seriously threatened.

In some areas, the air strikes have also helped foment local sympathy for the jihadist group.

Sunni residents, who disagreed with the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, were happy when ISIS stormed their neighbourhoods, pushing back Shiite militias and the Iraqi army, which many saw as a sectarian force.

In Syria, too, there were indications this week the bombing campaign was helping engender support for the jihadist group.

One leader for Jabhat Al-Nusra, the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria who was a sworn enemy of ISIS, confirmed rumours the two groups were talking about a reconciliation, after both were targeted by air strikes.

The Daily Telegraph

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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