Beirut: The Islamic State group killed 164 civilians in its offensive on the Kurdish town of Kobane, in what a monitor has called one of the jihadists’ “worst massacres” in Syria. The killing spree, which took place mostly inside Kobane itself, was widely seen as vengeance for a series of defeats inflicted on the jihadists by Kurdish militia in recent weeks. At least 120 civilians were killed in a 24-hour rampage on Kobane, and another 26 were executed in a nearby village, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The bullet-riddled bodies of 18 people — including children — were found yesterday in the streets of Kobane, the Britain-based Observatory said, adding that they had been shot “at close range”. “The body of one child bore the impact of five bullets,” it said. The assault – in which 42 IS fighters and 10 Kurds also died – began on Thursday when three IS suicide bombers blew up vehicles at the entrances to Kobane, a symbol of Kurdish resistance.
Women were among civilians whose bodies were found in homes and on the streets, the Observatory said. “According to medical sources and Kobane residents, 120 civilians were executed by IS in their homes or killed by the group’s rockets or snipers,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
“When they entered the town, the jihadists took up positions in buildings at the southeast and southwest entrances, firing at everything that moved.” Kurdish journalist Mostafa Ali said there was no military dimension to the assault.
