ISIS and the Battle for Kobani

     Last June a terror group known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) launched a lightning offensive into Iraq and took control of a third of the country. ISIS started out as a small group that was once part of al Qaeda, but because of infighting with another terror group based in Syria, the al-Nusra Front, was forced to leave. ISIS has also played a major role in the Syrian civil war since they are currently the largest rebel group. They've claimed the city of Raqqa in Syria for their capital.
   
 

Map of the area that ISIS controls

     ISIS wants to create an Islamic caliphate out of Iraq, Syria and any other land they can get their hands on. This group wants everyone in their land to become Islamic and follow radical Muslim rule. When ISIS first took control of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, they said that any Christians there could live freely and without fear since there was a very large Christian population there, but a few days later ISIS announced they would either heavily tax or kill any of the Christians there. ISIS has also been hunting down smaller ethnic minorities such as the Yazidis and the Kurds. When the Yazidis tried to flee their homes in Iraq to Mount Sinjar they were besieged by ISIS for weeks but were eventually relieved with American help. The Kurds live in the autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq.  The Kurdish army, the peshmerga, have been the only group to successfully combat ISIS and succeed. ISIS has been executing anyone found in their land that belongs to these ethnic groups. Currently the Kurds are in a fight against ISIS for the city of Kobani, Syria and the border of Turkey.

     The city of Kobani sits on the border of Syria and Turkey and if ISIS gains control of it they will have the entire Iraq/Syrian border. Many Kurds in Iraq want to help in the fight but they would have to go through the Turkish border, since the Iraq/Syria border is under ISIS control. Turkey does not want to help the Kurds at all. For three decades Turkey and the Kurds have been in a guerrilla war in Turkey which has just recently ended. Turkey closed off their border completely to Kurds from Iraq and Syria. 

Turkish tanks guard the Turkey/Syrian border by Kobani.

Turkey has also brought in many tank divisions to guard the border. US airstrikes and airdropped supplies have helped to relieve the Kurds in the city but isn't enough. After weeks of fighting Turkey recently decided to open their border Iraqi Kurds to let them into Kobani.

     For any statistics or information you could ever need to know about ISIS, visit this link.

Citations: Ap. "Iraqi Kurds Head to Fight Militants in Syria." USA Today. Gannett, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.

"ISIS Fast Facts." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.