Reasons behind the rapid spread of ISIS in north-east Syria

The rapid progress of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the villages surrounding the Ain Al-Arab (Kobani) region, located in the north-eastern province of Aleppo, has been striking. During the past few days, the Islamic State gained control over more than 100 villages, after they were controlled by the Kurdish Police Special Forces (Asayish) which belong to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, the political arm of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

Koman Husain, a member of the Coalition for Syrian Opposition for the Kurdish National Council, said: “The reasons behind the progress of the Islamic State in the north-east of Aleppo and its control of 100 villages surrounding Ain Al-Arab city are the types of heavy weapons the organisation has taken from the Iraqi army after its control of Mosul, in northern Iraq, as it pursues its military policy and the surprise attack without prior warning.”

His analysis matches with what has been done by the Islamic State, organisation which attacked the city from three sides, following the same tactic that it implemented in its attacks in Iraq and Syria, in addition to using rockets, seized from the Iraqi army in Mosul, that are known for their huge explosive ability and accuracy.

Husein explained: “The international coalition that was formed based on the progress ISIS has made in Iraqi Kurdistan has made ISIS willing to take revenge on the Kurdish people.”

It seems that what happened in the villages of Ain Al-Arab is refreshing the memories of what happened in the north of Mosul, the area of Sinjar, and others, where the Kurdish Peshmerga forces withdrew without a fight, under the pretext that they did not have weapons to confront ISIS, which resulted in the flow of arms from the United States and the West.

Moreover, the US also reacted by launching air strikes against the areas taken over by ISIS, where there were reports about the American administration’s rejection of arming the Asayish, affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), for fear of weapons being smuggled into the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Some activists have accused the PYD of handing over the villages of Ain Al-Arab without a fight, and withdrawing from them to justify the entry of Peshmerga forces, and deceiving the American administration and the Western countries into thinking it stands by the Syrian revolution, not the regime.

Husein questioned the Asayish’s ability to face ISIS saying: “I do not think that the PYD forces can withstand this barbaric attack, especially because America, which is leading an international coalition since the war on Afghanistan, seeks to bury these terrorist organisations which cause mass murder against innocent people.” He noted that more than 100,000 Kurdish refugees have fled to Turkey.

In response to a question on his expectations for Western support for Syria’s Kurds, Husein explained: “We are part of this country and we are not outside the Syrian framework. We seek, through the coalition, to cooperate without distinction between the different races and religions that make Syria. The coalition has a plan to work within the international coalition for fighting ISIS, and we hope that we could provide the power and strength, as a coalition and a free army, on the ground, in order to fill the vacuum which will appear after the defeat of ISIS.”

ISIS launched a surprise attack on the villages surrounding Ain Al-Arab on September 19 and succeeded to control them and impose a siege on the city from four sides, with the withdrawal and retreat of the Asayish forces. This resulted in 130,000 Syrian refugees fleeing to Turkey.

Source: AA

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