MURSITPINAR, Turkey — Several Syrian human rights groups have issued a dramatic appeal, calling on the world to save the embattled Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani from falling into the hands of the Islamic State group.
The appeal came as more fighting was underway on Wednesday in the town on the Syria-Turkish border. The town is also known under its Arabic name of Ayn Arab.
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Seven rights groups, including the Kurdish Organization for Human Rights and the Human Rights Organization in Syria, say Islamic State group's onslaught on the town and the surrounding area, which began in mid-September, represents a "clear form of persecution and ethnic cleansing."
New airstrikes in Kobani! pic.twitter.com/ccinWlBigz— Rekka (@Rekka_K) October 8, 2014
#Syria: Alarm at situation in Kobane/Ain al-Arab now under #ISIL attack & concern for civilian safety: http://t.co/cSTWHMgrmU— UN Human Rights (@UNrightswire) October 7, 2014
The groups say the fighting has displaced nearly 280,000 people who fled fearing "killings, executions, throat slitting, beheadings, mayhem and kidnaping of women and children."