The border town of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab in Arabic) has been under heavy attack by ISIS since mid-September.

While the Iraqi Army (backed by the US) surrendered Mosul to ISIS in one day, the YPG Kurds have resisted with minimal weaponry and ammunition for over 3 weeks. They are the last bastion of resistance to ISIS on the ground, and the only hope of stopping them from conquering Northern Syria.

The UN special envoy to Syria has warned that the civilians would “most likely be massacred is ISIS takes over the town.

Except for one narrow entry and exit point to Turkey, Mr de Mistura said Kobane was "literally surrounded" by IS, with hundreds of mainly elderly civilians still inside the city centre and another 10-13,000 gathered nearby, (AFP reports)

Although ISIS has been trying to take the town for two years, the current attack is ISIS’s biggest ever with estimated 15,000 fighters attacking the town.  US coalition airstrikes were only stepped up on Wednesday although airstrikes alone will not be enough to support the vastly underequipped defenders who are running low on ammo whilst fighting with light soviet era equipment.

The defenders urgently require ammunition, anti-tank missiles and a corridor for YPG reinforcements to be allowed in from the other two Kurdish cantons.

The Turkish government is blocking any reinforcements or aid from entering through the northern border as it uses the crisis to force concessions from the Kurds and international coalition. If the Kurds don’t win this battle then the consequences will be dire for Kurdish / Turkish relations with signs of a civil war already evident as outrage spreads throughout Turkey.

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