Kobani’s fall would be strategic loss in fight against ISIS

close

Video

Kurdish fighters battle to reclaim Kobani from ISIS

US Army Brigadier General (Ret) Ernie Audino gives an update on the ground situation

Kurdish fighters continue to battle ISIS terrorists in the Syrian town of Kobani as fear grows they might lose control, but according to a former top U.S. military official, the Kurds might be gaining momentum.

Fox News’ Lisa Daftari spoke to retired U.S. Brigadier General Ernie Audino about the fight in Kobani. Audino was embedded for a year with Kurdish Peshmerga forces during the Iraq War and is familiar with tactics used by the Kurds.

Audino, whose contacts inside Kobani are updating him on the battle, said there are indications recent coalition airstrikes are helping.

“They [Kurds] are fighting like crazy to defend the city … under the support of those airstrikes the PYD [Kurdish Democratic Union], the Kurdish fighters inside Kobani have reclaimed portions or expanded their control primarily on the western side of Kobani, but the eastern side still has serious ISIS concentration.”

[pullquote]

The U.S. and its partner nations need to come to the realization, Audino believes, that the terrorists are fighting total war.

“They have mobilized all elements within their command for the prosecution of this effort against humanity and decency. We want to believe something it’s not – a few airstrikes will not win this war; they need to be ramped up.”

There is a growing call for the U.S. to boost its support to Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

“Peshmerga show the will … they may not have the ability and they are being hampered right now by a lack of serious modern equipment … we can help with that,” said Audino.

If ISIS takes over Kobani, they could gain a strategic location for expanding their operations.

“It sits on a very important border crossing into Turkey, also sits in the center of Kurdish populated areas inside Syria … ISIS would like nothing more than to take that town to support their efforts to continue to dominate Syria and press support into Iraq,” said Audino.