Turkey increases security on Rojava border as ISIL offensive on Kobane intensifies

Scores of tanks and armored vehicles being dispatched next to areas where intense fighting across the border is taking place. DHA Photo

The Turkish army has increased the number of troops along its border with northeastern Syria – the pre-dominantly Kurdish region known as Rojava – as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) continues to attack villages close to the border in an attempt to capture Kobane.

ISIL, which is in control of the Syrian districts of Tal Abyad and Jarablus west of Rojava, has been fighting for more than two weeks with Kurdish forces of the Democratic Union Party (PYD).

Numerous security measures have been implemented to monitor the situation, with scores of tanks and armored vehicles being dispatched next to areas where intense fighting across the border is taking place. Patrols by Turkish forces along the border have also been ramped up.

Meanwhile, the population of Kobane has reportedly soared to 400,000 due to a large influx of refugees fleeing ISIL militants and settling in the border town, prompting new concerns of a new refugee inflow to Turkey. The crossing point between Kobane and Mürşitpınar, in the Şanlıurfa province, is usually opened two days a week for humanitarian aid to be transported into Syria.

Meanwhile, tents along the border with Rojava have been built with the support of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to provide assistance to Syrian Kurds fleeing the clashes. However, the Turkish military has increased its presence in these areas where the tents have been constructed in order to prevent border crossings, after numerous people reportedly went to Syria to join the PYD.

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