Kurdish Forces Completely Clear Syrian Kobani From Islamic State Militants

KOBANI, January 26 (Sputnik) — Kurdish self-defense forces, including Peshmerga fighters, have taken full control and driven Islamic State (IS) militants completely out of Kobani, the Syrian town near the Turkish border, after nearly four months of fighting, Sputnik correspondent Sultan Tamo reports.

Today, Kurdish troops liberated the remaining last four quarters of the city that were still under the IS control.

On Monday, the Kurish self-defense forces eliminated over 40 IS jihadists. The rest of the IS fighters are fleeing and trying to hide in villages nearby.

Kurdish commanders have said their forces plan to build on their success and launch a counter-offensive, liberating villages near Kobani. At the moment, Kurds control all roads that lead to Kobani, thus having taken the full control of the city. The defense forces have started to clear mines from roads and buildings.

Kobani, one of the largest cities in the Kurdish region bordering Turkey, was besieged by the Islamic State extremist group in September. Since then, Kurdish forces, backed by the US-led airstrikes on IS positions, have been trying to drive the extremists out of the city.

In December 2014, Syrian Kurds leader Saleh Muslim Mohammad said that the main goal of Kurdish forces fighting against Islamic State was full liberation of Kobani. Turkey is said to be hosting more than 190,000 refugees from Kobani.