Turkey's Parliament OKs Military Action in Syria, Iraq Against IS

by VOA News October 02, 2014

The Turkish parliament approved a motion on Thursday enabling the government to authorize cross-border military incursions into Iraq and Syria to battle Islamic State militants.

The motion also allows foreign soldiers to be stationed in Turkey and to use its military bases for the same purposes.

Ankara has come under pressure to play a more robust role in the U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State fighters after the insurgents advanced to within clear sight of Turkish military positions on the Syrian border.

More than 160,000 refugees have crossed into Turkey from the Kobani area since an IS offensive began in mid-September.

Turkey was already home to more than 1 million Syrians who fled the civil war in their country.

Kobani attack continues

Meanwhile, the defense chief for the besieged northern Syrian town of Kobani said a 'large-scale massacre' by Islamic State militants is imminent without international aid.

Ismet Sheikh Hasan told VOA's Kurdish news service that Kurdish fighters defending the area feel abandoned by U.S.-led coalition forces, despite nearby airstrikes in recent days.

​​​​'It is only a matter of time before the (Islamic State group) enters the city and commits a large-scale massacre against the people. The U.S. and coalition (forces) need to strike IS targets before it is too late,' said Khan, who oversees defense for Kobani, which is also known as Ain al-Arab.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday militants were within hundreds of meters of entering the town along the border with Turkey.

Bolstered by coalition airstrikes and Iraqi military support, Kurdish fighters advanced on some IS positions in Iraq this week, reclaiming the Rabia border crossing on the Syrian frontier.

Iraqi town overrun

Elsewhere, Islamic State-led insurgents took control of most of the western Iraqi town of Hit in Anbar province early Thursday, security sources and local officials said.

The ultra-radical Sunni Muslim militants have captured vast swaths of western and northern Iraq, including the north's biggest city Mosul in June, as well as large areas of the east and north of neighboring Syria.

The fall of Hit exposes the Ain al-Asad military base in the nearby town of al-Baghdadi to attack.

Iraqi government forces suffered big losses after insurgents laid siege to other military camps in recent months.

"Ninety percent of Hit has been overrun by militants," said Adnan al-Fahdawi, an Anbar provincial council member, adding that the attackers were better armed than local security forces.

An eyewitness speaking from Hit told Reuters: "Scores of militants can be seen in the town with their vehicles and weapons, I can hear shooting now everywhere."

The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that General John Allen, the U.S. envoy for the anti-Islamic State coalition, had arrived in Iraq to meet with government officials about the ongoing efforts to battle the militant group.

Allen will then travel to Belgium, Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, as the United States continues to rally support for its air campaign in Iraq and Syria.

Some material for this report came from Reuters.