MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) – Iranian authorities slammed the passivity of Western countries on Tuesday over Kobani on the Syrian border with Turkey, a predominantly Kurdish city besieged by Islamic State (IS) militants, the IRNA news agency reported referring to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham.
The global community should not be silent on crimes committed by IS militants, the spokeswoman underlined, calling for immediate action to protect Kobani civilians.
Afkham warned of a humanitarian catastrophe in the Syrian city and said that Iran would be sending aid to Kobani residents in the near future.
Islamic State militants have been besieging Kobani, which is one of the largest towns in the Kurdish region bordering Turkey, for the last three weeks. Over 400 people have died during clashes between IS and Kurdish fighters in Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Some 160,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey from the IS threat.
On Monday, Kurdish protesters flocked to the street across Turkey to protest the advance of Islamic State militants toward Kobani.
Earlier this week, Idris Nassan, a senior speaker for Kurdish fighters called the airstrikes against IS targets in Syria, conducted by the US-led international coalition, ineffective, noting that fighter jets cannot hit every single IS fighter on the ground.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories under its control in both countries.
In August, the United States started launching airstrikes against the IS positions in Iraq. In September, the attacks of the US and its allies were extended to Syria.
