Kobani, a town in Syria that sits yards from the Turkish border, has been the scene of an intense battle between Kurdish fighters and militants with the Islamic State. Kurdish fighters have struggled to defend the city since mid-September, when ISIS militants began their offensive. Since the battle began, nearly 200,000 civilians have fled the town. Many are seeking refuge across the border in Turkey. International journalists and local Kurds in the Suruc region of Turkey have seen glimpses of the battle from the sidelines, watching from the nearby border as heavy bombardments rock the town. Despite U.S.-led coalition airstrikes on the militants, that have destroyed training camps, trucks and artillery, ISIS continued its push on Kobani amid a growing fear that it will fall.
The Battle for Kobani as Seen From the Ground
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Megan Specia
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Megan Specia
Megan Specia was Mashable's Assistant Real-Time News Editor and joined the team in September 2014. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of New Hampshire after growing up in the Jersey 'burbs. She made her way to New York via a four year stopover in Dublin. Megan previously worked as a journalist and editor at Storyful in both Dublin and New York. Before all of that, though, her claim to fame was as head cake arranger and purveyor of all things sweet at Queen of Tarts cafe in Dublin, where she developed a serious addiction to macarons.
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