Islamic State militants overrun the strategic city of Heet and claim half Syrian border town of Kobane

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Gun-battles and bombings mark desperate fight for Kobane 0:55

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Kurdish fighters are engaged in a desperate battle with Islamic State militants who, with superior numbers and weaponry, are tightening their grip on the Syrian border town of Kobane. Jillian Kitchener reports.

• Reuters
• 14 Oct 2014
• News/World

Ominous sign ... Kurdish people look at smoke rising from the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds, from the Turkish-Syrian border. Pic: AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS Source: AFP

It has been one of the deadliest days in the conflict, with fierce fighting across the country and a third day of suicide bombs in the Iraqi capital Baghdad where IS now has a firm foothold.

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The surrender of Heet early yesterday was a major blow to beleaguered local forces which has now lost complete control of the Euphrates River city and its immediate surrounds after holding IS back fierce for several weeks.

Surrender ... Smoke plumes are visible over buildings in the Iraqi town of Heet, in western Anbar province after an attack by the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State group. Pic: AP Photo Source: AP

A military aircraft picked up the senior officers from the camp while at least another 300 junior troops fled in a convoy of vehicles.

“Iraqi forces evacuated Heet training camp last night (Sunday) on the orders of the military command,” a senior police official said.

“Our military leaders argued that instead of leaving those forces exposed to attacks by IS, they would be best used to shore up the defence of Asad air base.”

Asad is one of the last Iraqi government bases still held in the province west of Baghdad.

Before they left the Heet base they set fire to their base so as infrastructure could not be used by their enemy.

In the past few weeks an estimated 180,000 people had fled the city.

Loss ... Friends and family members of victims of a suicide bombing carry the coffins during the funeral procession near the site of the attack in the Shula neighbourhood of Baghdad. Pic: AP Photo/Karim Kadim Source: AP

IS claim half of Kobane

There was heavy fighting also on the Syrian-Turkey border in the encircled town of Kobane.

The US conducted another two airstrikes but IS extremists also made two suicide missions, including one in a truck laden with explosives, into the heart of the city.

The breakthrough saw IS claim half of Kobane, nearly a month after the Sunni extremists began their assault on the town on the Turkish frontier, despite more than three weeks of US-led air strikes in Syria aimed at stopping them.

In their latest air strikes, American and Saudi warplanes targeted seven sites around Kobane, the US military said, including IS staging posts used in its bid to cut the town off from the outside world.

Massacre fears ... Turkish soldiers on a tank sit opposite the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane by the Kurds, at the Turkish-Syrian border. Pic: AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS Source: AFP

A Kobane politician who is now a refugee said ISIS fighters had surrounded Kobane to the south, east and west, and warned of a “massacre” if they take the northern front bordering Turkey.

“If they manage to take control of that area, they will close all access to the town and will begin a massacre,” Feyza Abdi said from Turkey.

“That is what they want, to completely enclose the town, cut off all contact with Turkey and engage in barbarism.” Fighting spread to less than a kilometre (half a mile) from the barbed wire frontier fence, with the jihadists carrying out three suicide car bomb attacks in the border zone, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Later the Britain-based monitoring group said IS had advanced into central Kobane, seizing a major building and squeezing the town’s Kurdish defenders into its northern half bordering Turkey.

In a further blow to the Kurdish forces attempting to hold onto the strategic border town, Turkey yesterday said reports it would allow US fighters to use its bases, particularly Incirlik in the south close to the border, were wrong and negotiations were ongoing.

Defenders ... Syrian Kurds ride on a truck as they leave from the Syrian town Kobane at the Turkish-Syrian border. Pic: AFP PHOTO / ARIS MESSINIS Source: AFP

More bombings in Baghdad

Meanwhile, in Baghdad three bombs were left off in largely Shiite neighbourhoods as locals were out on the streets celebrating with their families on a local holiday. At least 30 people were killed and twice that number wounded.

In the east of the city another suicide bomber killed 15 people and wounded 34 at a checkpoint, while in northern Baghdad another dozen people were killed at a bust stop when another car bomber attacked.

In Sadr city, a neighbourhood in north eastern Baghdad, another bomb hidden in a vegetable cart detonated killing four and wounding 18.

Devastation ... A car bomb exploded near a cafe in the sprawling Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City on Wednesday in Baghdad, killing at least ten and wounding tens, according to police officials. Pic: AP Photo/Karim Kadim Source: AP

Visiting Baghdad today, British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said coalition forces air strikes had taken their toll on ISIS but ground attacks had to be left to the Iraqi army.

“We’ve always understood that the air campaign alone was not going to be decisive in turning the tide against ISIS (IS),” he said.

“But it has halted the Isil advance, it has forced Isil to change its tactics and it is degrading their military capabilities.”

He reiterated the “heavy work” was going to have to be done by Iraqis saying British troops on the ground could stir more extremism.

Brisbane man killed fighting for IS in Syria

Meanwhile, a Queensland man has died after travelling to Syria to fight for Islamic State.

Afghan-born Zia Abdul Haq, 33, was killed during the conflict on October 3, The Australian newspaper reports.

An image from the Twitter page of Abu Yusseph. Source: Supplied

Abu Yusseph, formally called Zia Abdul Haq. Photo: Supplied Source: Supplied

A foreign fighter believed to have been part of the Abdul Haq’s unit confirmed the death to The Australian on Monday, but he has yet to detail how or where he died.

Abdul Haq migrated to Australia in his 20s.

He lived in Logan, south of Brisbane, with his now ex-wife and son before travelling to Syria to join IS in August.

The former Brisbane City Council finance worker joined IS after attending a radical talk in Brisbane.