As of now the city on the Turkish/Syrian border is under siege for control by the fighters of the Islamic state or ISIS and the Kurdish militia fighters. If ISIS invades Kobani, They will have a strategic position to Take Bagdad and the rest of Iraq. If Kobani falls, ISIS will take control of the self-declared capital of Raqqa and Syria attempt to take Turkey and Iraq. As the fighting rages through the streets of Kobani, ISIS levels the city with mortar shells and attempting to roll in with tanks. The fighting rages but the United States (US) government officials states that “this is not a major concern to US military” and aims the leadership of ISIS and not to save cities and towns falling to ISIS.

The Turkey/Syrian city border of Kobani is in its second to third week under siege from ISIS or the Islamic state fighters. The Kurdish fighters have been fighting off the Islamic fighters for the time being but slowly crumbling to ISIS tanks and mortar shelling on a daily basis. The Kurdish fighiters are outnumbered and outgunned armed with only infantry while ISIS is armed with mortars and tanks in and around Kobani. The bloody fighting on the streets of Kobani has taken a toll on ISIS forces with a count of 219 casualties while the Kurdish taken only 163 casualties and 20 civilian casualties leading to a total count of 480 casualties. The Kurdish fighters are such good fighters that they pushed ISIS back to the outskirts of the city from a few days ago and now ISIS controls about 40% of Kobani. A few US retired military operatives decided to assist the Kurdish militia at the Siege of Kobani. The US operatives voluntarily assists the Kurdish fighters to defend the city from the oncoming ISIS forces until a defeat or a victory.

Turkey would like to assist the Kurdish fighters in Kobani but the Kurds don’t want them there. The reason being is years ago as the government of Turkey put a “cleansing” on the Kurds which led to the Kurds to distrust the Turkish government. The Turkish military offered to assist the Kurds but the Kurds responded with rocks at the Turkish military. As the Turkish military is being pushed out of Kobani, the Turkish military respond the rocks with tear gas and smoke to force their way in and help but proved futile to the Kurdish rock bombardment.

The US government is trying to avoid the Siege of Kobani. The US officials is stating that “This is not a major concern to US military”. Instead of helping the Kurds, US launches airstrikes on major ISIS buildings and ISIS leadership. The US aims to target ISIS leadership and not to save the cities and towns falling to ISIS as they fall one by one. As the US bombs ISIS, United Nations (UN) officials urge world leaders to take action and assist the Kurdish fighters in Kobani and push ISIS out of the area. United Kingdom (UK) responds by having supplies ready to give out to the Kurdish militia on their front lines and urges Turkey to get into the fight despite their confrontations.

Kobani is a strategic location to ISIS to expand their growing empire. If Kobani falls to ISIS, the city will serve as a strategic outpost for ISIS to conquer Baghdad. If Kobani falls, ISIS will then have Syria, the self-controlled capital of Raqqa, and an attempt to finish Iraq.

FSA Connection Questions

1. Who is the author if this article?
2. In this article, the word urge means…
3. What point is the author trying to get across?
4. Select the two sentences that best support the author’s main idea.
5. What is the connotation of the word siege in this story?