ISIS militants lost a significant number of troops after they attacked an Iraqi base that was housing U.S. ground troops.
The assault by the terrorists on the Ein al-Asad military base on Sunday were 100 U.S. troops were stationed as part of a “training mission” for the Iraqi military. Not only did the terrorists find themselves quickly being subdued by the U.S. troops but F-18 fighters also joined the fight.
A tribal leader in the region said that while it was the first direct fight between US troops and ISIS, it didn’t mean that the U.S. was engaged in the ground war. Sheikh Mahmud Nimrawi said that terrorists attacked the base so it was an act of self-defense.
The U.S. forces are helping train Iraqis and members of the Kurdish peshmurga as they attempt to recapture a key city from the terrorists. The city is on a major pathway to Yazidis trapped in mountains by ISIS.
Turkey reversed course Monday and said they would allow Iraqi Kurds to join Turkish Kurds in the battle for Kobani.
The news came as the United States air-dropped weapons to the Kurds for the first time to help them as they go forward in their battle against ISIS.
The move by Turkey comes at the request of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who asked the Turkish government to “get the peshmerga or other groups” into the Kobani area to make sure the terrorists were not able to seize control of the town.
Syrian Kurds, who have been making a bold stand against the terrorists, were allied with the PKK, which attempted to overthrow the Turkish government for decades. America considers the PKK a terrorist organization and said that the Kurds fighting the terrorists have no PKK affiliation.
“We understand fully the fundamentals of (Ankara’s) opposition and ours to any kind of terrorist group, and particularly, obviously, the challenges they face with respect to the PKK,” Kerry told reporters. “We cannot take our eye off the prize here. It would be irresponsible of us, as well as morally very difficult, to turn your back on a community fighting ISIL.”
Kurdish fighters were able to stop an advance by the Islamic terrorist group ISIS into the town of Kobani but could not stop suicide bombers from launching homicide bomber attacks in another Iraqi province.
The bombings happned in the Qara Tappah district in Diyala province. One bomber blew himself up at the gateway to the offices of the main Kurdish political party and two others blew themselves up in cars loaded with explosives minutes later.
The terrorists involved were reportedly foreigners who came to Iraq to fight with ISIS.
The CIA now reports ISIS has a total strength of 31,500 terrorists in Iraq and Syria. The attacks in Diyala follow 45 people being killed in similar attacks around Baghdad the prior day.
Kurdish fighters were able to top the advance into Kobani but ISIS has taken over at least 350 villages close to the main city. At least 150,000 people in the region have fled across the Turkish border.
The terrorist group ISIS has lost a key border crossing to Kurdish forces.
The capturing of the border crossing makes it harder for the terrorists to operate on both sides of the Iraqi/Syrian border and the victory against the terrorists was obtained by Kurds on both sides of the border. It was the first time Kurdish forces from both sides of the border worked together in a single assault on the terrorists.
It also marked the first time that a major Sunni group has fought against the terrorists. The Shammar tribe, one of the most influential in the region, proclaimed the terrorists as a group that had to be eliminated.
The leader of the tribe told Reuters they are in full cooperation with groups working to overthrow the terrorists.
“Rabia is completely liberated. All of the Shammar are with the Peshmerga, and there is full cooperation between us,” Abdullah Yawar said.
The road that runs through Rabia is the major route between Syria and Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq.