Iranian Commander Warns of Human Tragedy in Kobane
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian commander cautioned against what he called "murderous catastrophe" in Syria’s border town of Ayn al-Arab, also known as Kobane, which has been partly seized by militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
“We are concerned about the (looming) massacre of people and consider it as a crime against humanity,” Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi said on Saturday.
He also described the airstrikes launched by the US-led coalition against ISIL terrorist group as “selective,” saying that the strikes “have resulted in the acceleration of ISIL advances.”
He also commented on the possibility of the presence of the US-led coalition’s ground troops in Syria, calling it a plot in which the people of the besieged town of Kobane would be sacrificed.
“If the oppressed people of Kobane are helped, God willing, they will be able to repel the ISIL militants from the town,” the Iranian commander noted.
The Kurdish Syrian town of Kobane has been subject to ferocious attacks by the ISIL militants over the past three weeks.
ISIL fighters have captured dozens of Kurdish villages around the border town, forcing some 200,000 of people to flee.
The ISIL declared a caliphate in June and has seized vast swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, displacing thousands of people mainly from minority communities.
