ISIL no big threat in Kobani anymore: Kurdish commander

“ISIS (ISIL) is not a big threat anymore,” Kurdish newspaper Rudaw quoted Ahmed Gerdi, who is in charge of the 150 Peshmerga sent to Kobani by Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, as saying.
 
“They are under immense attack from the Kurdish forces on the ground as well as airstrikes,” the Kurdish commander added.
 
He added that half of the city, which is known in Arabic as Ain al-Arab, is under the control of the Takfiri group, adding that urban warfare is raging on against the Takfiri militants.
 
“Making advances isn’t that simple,” Gerdi said, adding, “This is not a village that can be controlled in a single attack. It is a slow street fight. We need to secure every alley that we take.”
 
The Peshmerga commander in the city also pointed out that 10 Kurdish fighters have been injured in the battle against the terrorist group.
 
On November 18, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Kurdish forces battling the Takfiri ISIL militants in Kobani have advanced in the heart of the flashpoint city and forced the terrorists from several buildings.
 
On November 15, Kurdish forces managed to drive the ISIL militants out of their strongholds in the eastern and southern parts of Kobani.
 
Idris Nassan, a local official in the flashpoint city, said Kurdish fighters, with the assistance of Iraqi Peshmerga fighters, who crossed into Kobani on October 31, recaptured the strategic hill of Mistanour and the road that runs along the side of the hill.