Islamic State: Militants capture Kurd headquarters in Syria's Kobane; UN warns of massacre if Kobane falls

Updated

Thousands of people "will most likely be massacred" if Kobane falls to Islamic State (IS) fighters, a United Nations envoy said as militants reportedly overran the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Kobane and now control 40 per cent of the battleground Syrian border town.

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said Kobane could suffer the same fate as the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where 8,000 Muslims were killed by Serbs in 1995, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II.

"If this falls, the 700, plus perhaps the 12,000 people, apart from the fighters, will be most likely massacred," Mr de Mistura said, referring to UN estimates.

The United Nations believes 700 mainly elderly civilians are trapped in the town itself and 12,000 have left the centre but not made it across the border into Turkey.

"Do you remember Srebrenica? We do. We never forgot and probably we never forgave ourselves," he said.

"When there is an imminent threat to civilians, we cannot, we should not, be silent."

When there is an imminent threat to civilians, we cannot, we should not, be silent UN peace envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura

International attention has focused on Turkey, a NATO member with the biggest army in the region, however Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan has so far refused to join the military coalition against Islamic State or use force to protect Kobane.

Mr de Mistura said Turkey should allow volunteers to cross the border and "contribute to a self-defence operation".

"To support the deterrent actions of the coalition, through whatever means, from their own territory," Mr de Mistura said.

A Kurdish refugee who watched from the other side of the border said: "Our brothers are dying across there."

"They are facing genocide and the Turkish government has allowed this to happen," he said.

Turkey has absorbed 1.2 million Syrian refugees, including 200,000 from Kobane in the past few weeks.

The plight of mainly Kurdish Kobane has unleashed the worst street violence in years in Turkey, which has 15 million Kurds of its own.

Turkish Kurds have risen up since Tuesday against Mr Erdogan's government, which they accuse of allowing their kin to be slaughtered.

At least 31 people have been killed in three days of riots and street violence across the mainly Kurdish southeast, including two police officers shot dead in an apparent attempt to assassinate a police chief. The police chief was wounded.

Fears Kobane will fall as fierce clashes continue

Intense fighting between IS fighters and outgunned Kurdish forces in the streets of Kobane could be heard from across the border on Friday.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Hayden Cooper reports from Istanbul (ABC News)

US-led coalition aircraft carried out two fresh air strikes on Friday afternoon, leaving a cloud of white smoke rising above Kobane.

The coalition has intensified its campaign against IS targets around Kobane in recent days, however, Washington has acknowledged its air support is unlikely to be enough to save the town from falling.

"Our focus in is in degrading the capacity of (Islamic State) at its core to project power, to command itself, to sustain itself, to resource itself," US deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said.

"The tragic reality is that in the course of doing that there are going to be places like Kobane where we may or may not be able to be effective."

There are conflicting reports of how much of Kobane the militants control.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, said IS fighters had advanced into Kobane and now controlled at least 40 per cent of it, including its central administrative area, known as the "security quarter".

The group that supports opposition forces fighting troops loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said IS militants had overrun the headquarters of Kurdish forces defending Kobane.

"They have taken at least 40 per cent [of the town]," Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said by telephone.

Ocalan Iso, deputy head of the Kurdish forces defending the town, told Reuters IS fighters were still shelling the centre, which proved it had not yet fallen.

"There are fierce clashes and they are bombing the centre of Kobane from afar," he said, estimating the militants controlled 20 per cent of the town. He called for more US-led air strikes.

Thousands of Syrian Kurdish refugees leave Turkey for Iraq: UN

Thousands of Syrian Kurds who have fled Kobane have moved from Turkey to Iraq or back to safer parts of their homeland, the UN said Friday.

"We are seeing growing numbers choosing to continue their journey, either by heading to the Kurdistan region of Iraq or else crossing back into Syria several hundred kilometres to the east," said Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN high commissioner for refugees.

Some 172,000 Kurds have fled to Turkey to escape the onslaught on the border town and its surrounding region, Mr Edwards told reporters, though Turkish authorities have said the number could be around 200,000.

Mr Edwards said 1,600 people have arrived at the remote Gawilan refugee camp over the past two weeks.

"Between 150 and 200 Syrians have been arriving daily this week, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming days," he said.

Most have reported having spent 10-14 days in the area around Sanilurfa in Turkey before heading eastwards into Iraq.

"Conditions in the area have been difficult. People have contended with living in crowded mosques or in some cases on the streets without food or money," Mr Edwards said.

Those arriving in the Gawilan camp - often with the help of Iraqi Kurdish security forces - have recounted stories of their odyssey.

"One man said he had fled his village because people taken captive were being beheaded," Mr Edwards said.

Another managed to flee after being sentenced to death by a makeshift court at a school in Manbij, south of Kobane, where 100 people where held in each of the four classrooms, beaten daily, and watched fellow inmates being beheaded.

"He and others managed to escape before then when the school was hit by bombs, and were horrified to see human heads mounted on the fence of the main park for others in the town to see," he said.

ABC/AFP/Reuters

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, syrian-arab-republic, turkey

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