ISIL threatens new assault on Kobani after admitting defeat

The ISIL Takfiri militants have accepted defeat in Kobani, threatening a fresh attack against the strategic Syrian border town nearly a week after Kurdish fighters managed to liberate the embattled area from the terror group’s grip.

In a video released by pro-ISIL media outlets, militants with the ISIL terror group pledged to defeat the People’s Protection Units known as the YPG, which are the main Kurdish forces in Syria.

“A while ago we retreated a bit from Ayn al-Islam because of the bombardment and the killing of some brothers,” said a masked militant, using the group’s declared name for Kobani, which is known in Arabic as Ain al-Arab.

Kurdish fighters seized the town on the border with Turkey on January 26, after more than 100 days of fierce fighting with the ISIL.

The Takfiri terrorists, however, are still scattered throughout the southeastern and southwestern suburbs of Kobani.

Videos and photos coming from inside Kobani show extensive destruction, streets filled with rubble and deserted neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, the terrorists in the ISIL video attributed their defeat in Kobani to airstrikes by the so-called anti-ISIL coalition led by the US in a bid to downplay the significant role played by Kurdish forces in liberating the town

“The warplanes did not leave any construction. They destroyed everything, so we had to withdraw…,” said another militant in the footage.

Since late September 2014, the US and some of its Arab allies have been conducting airstrikes against the ISIL inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

The US-led coalition’s airstrikes have also hit Syrian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities. The coalition has also attacked the provinces where the ISIL militants are not active.

The United States and its allies, which are party to the same coalition, have been the staunch supporters of the Takfiri terrorists fighting against the Syrian government since March 2011.

The loss of the border town is viewed as a major blow to the Takfiri terrorists, who started advancing on the town on September 16, 2014, in order to strengthen control over a long stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border.

The battle for Kobani has claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people, most of them from ISIL.

Some 200,000 people escaped to Turkey from Kobani and the adjacent villages due to the clashes over the past few months and now most of them cannot return because of the scope of destruction.

Kurdish fighters have launched an operation after recapturing the town to retake some of the surrounding villages around Kobani. They have made many gains in their fresh counter-terror offensive.