According to Reuters’ report on Wednesday, the blockage of this supply route to Kobane is the first major gain against ISIL after weeks of violence. Iraqi-Kurdish Peshmerga forces crossed into Kobane on Oct. 31 to help the besieged Kurdish fighters in the town.
The combined forces have now cut off the road which leads south east to the village of Hilnij. Despite having limited strategic significance, the battle in Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab, has become a powerful symbol in the fight against Islamic State.
Idris Nassan, a local official in Kobane, said by telephone that anti-ISIL forces had taken the strategic hill of Mistanour and the road which runs along the side of the hill.
He noted that ISIL was using this road for ammunition and fighters and added Peshmerga forces had been focusing artillery strikes on ISIL positions on the outskirts of Kobane like Mistanour over the past week, to halt the terrorists shelling on the town.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Kurdish forces had not taken Mistanour hill but had started fighting on the road to Hilnij, preventing ISIL fighters from using it to resupply.
Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga have helped forces in Kobane take some villages around Kobane but the lines of control in the town remain the same.
MS
MNA
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