Turkey to launch military actions to defend Syrian border of Kobani

CNN reported on Saturday that the Islamic State (IS), a radical Sunni Muslim group, has advanced into a Kurdish stronghold Kobani, known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, and seized partial regions, despite airstrikes on Syria by the U.S. and its allies.

Armed with heavy weapons such as tanks and cannons, IS has launched attacks to seize Kobani bordering Turkey since Sept. 15 and has been in fierce battle with the YPG Kurdish force. If IS takes Kobani, it will control northeastern part of Syria on the Euphrates River, from its self-declared capital of Raqqa to the Turkish border.

YPG fighter Alan Minbic told CNN that city defenders destroyed an ISIS tank on the eastern edge of Kobani, but on the western side, IS now controls an area called Tal Shair, which includes an informal border crossing. He also said that YPG gave up the external defense line, pulled back to the city and is ready for street-to-street battle. Moderate Syrian opposition military group Free Syrian Army (FSA) also joined forces to defend Kobani, arranging snipers in the city in an effort to prevent the IS militants from advancing farther.

As IS is about to take Kobani, the Turkish government, of which parliament recently passed a bill for the country’s military to take actions on IS, is about to launch military operations. The number of Kurdish refugees who crossed border to Turkey fleeing from IS attack have reached around 186,000. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, “We`ll do whatever we can to prevent this (falling of Kobani) from happening."

On Friday, ISIS released a short video showing the apparent beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning (aged 47). This is the fourth beheading video released by IS, following American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines. Henning was a taxi driver and a father of two kids, living in Greater Manchester, the UK.

Henning was kidnapped in December 2013, during volunteer activities to drive an ambulance and deliver medical supplies to refugees suffering from the civil war in Syria. He had a tattoo "Aid4Syria" in his arm. British Prime Minister David Cameron said, “The brutal murder shows how barbaric and repulsive these terrorists are...We will do all we can to hunt down these murderers and bring them to justice."

In the same video, IS threatens the life of another hostage, American aid worker Peter Kassig (26). A U.S. Army veteran, Kassig set up a NGO called Special Emergency Response and Assistance (SERA) to help Syrian refugees. He was kidnapped by IS while traveling from Lebanon to eastern Syria. The U.S. National Security Council released a statement on the same day and vowed to use every tool at disposal - military, diplomatic, law enforcement and intelligence - to try to bring Peter home to his family.

The U.S. and Arab allies continued airstrikes on Syria despite the new of fourth beheading of captive by IS. The U.S, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE launched airstrikes nine times on IS bases including Kobani with fighter planes, bomber planes and unmanned drones.