Kurdish forces say they have successfully expelled Islamic State fighters from the embattled Syrian border town of Kobane with the help of US-led airstrikes.
"Congratulations to humanity, Kurdistan, and the people of Kobane on the liberation of Kobane," the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) spokesman Polat Jan declared on social media.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"While the fight against Isil (IS) is far from over, Isil's failure in Kobane has denied them one of their strategic objectives," it said.
At least 1,800 people are believed to have died in the four-month siege, prompting much of the civilian population to flee to neighbouring Turkey, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The victory in Kobane is seen as a symbolic and strategic blow to IS, which controls swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria. The town serves as a key access route into Turkey and has been at the centre of much of the fighting in the region.
If Kobane were under IS control, the militants would be in a position where they would "directly threaten" Turkey, a key Nato-ally, the New York Times reports. A setback in Kobane would have exposed "the fragility of the American plan and hand the Islamic State an important victory," it says.
However, their defeat in Kobane "does not necessarily mean [IS] are losing overall," warns the BBC's Paul Wood. "Syrian opposition sources say IS actually have more territory under their control now than when the United States and its allies started bombing, last August," he points out.
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Sudoku medium: August 23, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
Rubio says US brokered end to Syria conflictSpeed Read Syria's defense ministry was targeted in Israeli attacks on the capital
-
Syria's returning refugeesThe Explainer Thousands of Syrian refugees are going back to their homeland but conditions there remain extremely challenging
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
