#AceNewsServices – KOBANI – October 11 – The Islamic State has released disturbing footage from inside Kobane showing militants waging another ferocious attack on Kurdish territory, amid concerns the extremists are now in control of half of the besieged Syrian town.
Inside the battle for Kobane: ISIS fanatics release propaganda film of street fighting as Kurds stage last desperate stand to stop massacre of the innocents in sight of the Turkish border
The propaganda clip, which appears to have been filmed professionally, shows militants firing assault rifles and machine guns from behind buildings in the embattled border town.
Crawling through walls into Syrian Town of Kobane ‘
In one harrowing scene, the clearly-filmed footage shows one of the terrorists attacking a building with a rocket-propelled grenade.
Other scenes show the extremists relentlessly firing rounds at unseen targets, while their colleagues crawl inside the blasted walls of the abandoned buildings.
ISIS fighters appear to be creeping further into the centre, where thousands of civilians unable or unwilling to flee their homes face rape and massacre.
The Islamic State group’s onslaught on Kobane, which started in mid-September, has forced some 200,000 people to flee the area.
The militants have been advancing on the town from three sides and pounding it with artillery despite dogged resistance from Kurdish forces.
However many residents have refused to give up their homes in the face of the terrorists’ threat, vowing to fight the militants to the death.
Other residents, many of them elderly or disabled, also remain inside Kobane having found themselves physically unable to flee.
Yesterday, the United Nations warned that the world faces ‘another Srebrenica’ massacre unless it acts to save its besieged residents who have been unable to flee.
Meanwhile, U.S defence secretary Chuck Hagel has warned that the U.S wants to know how far Turkey is willing to go to help train and equip moderate opposition fighters trying to topple Syrian president Bashar Assad, including whether it will conduct training on its own land.
The U.S has gained itself a firm ally, with the announcement from Turkey that it will support efforts to train and equip the Syrian opposition.
The European country is also considering putting troops on the ground.
But the U.S does not yet know whether Ankara is willing to do the training inside Turkey itself.
Saudi Arabia, for instance, has agreed to host training facilities for Syrian rebels on its territory and US officials are still discussing the details with Turkish officials.
Mr Hagel said: ‘The specifics that go with train and equip – locations, contributions, trainers – will be part of that conversation.
‘Part of those discussions will include how far Turkey is willing to go? Certainly one of those questions will be, will they be willing to provide training locations?’
Mr Hagel said a joint team from US Central Command and US European Command will travel to Turkey next week and discuss the different ways it can contribute to the effort to degrade the Islamic State (IS) group militants.
