The main Kurdish armed group in Syria again called on Kurds across the region to help prevent a massacre in Kobani as ISIS forces closed their ring around the town and pummeled it with artillery fire. The statement issued by the PKK-aligned People's Protection Units (YPG) vowed "never ending" resistance to ISIS in its advance on Kobani. "Every street and house will be a grave for them." Fighting alongside the YPG is the 7,500-strong Women's Protection Units (YPJ)—the fruit of the consensus decision-making process in the areas of PKK control, in which women are guaranteed a 40% quota. But as ISIS tightens its ring around Kobani, Turkish troops gather on the nearby border—to prevent Kurdish fighters from coming to the town's aid.

Photo: ANF

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