Kurdish forces win control of Kobani

Kurdish forces have taken full control of the Syrian town of Kobani, driving out remaining Islamic State fighters to end a four-month battle that became a focal point of the international fight against the ultra-hardline Islamist group.

Monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian Kurdish YPG forces had retaken the town, close to the Turkish border, but were still proceeding carefully in the eastern outskirts where Islamic State had planted mines before fleeing.

“I can see the YPG flag flying over Kobani. There are the sounds of jets flying above. People are dancing and singing. Everyone feels a huge sense of relief,” said Tevfik Kanat, a Turkish Kurd by phone.

US-led forces have carried out almost daily air strikes on Islamic State positions around the town, a frontline in the battle against the group that has captured expanses of Iraq and Syria and proclaimed an Islamic caliphate. Photographs posted on social media showed male and female Kurdish fighters shaking hands and Kurdish flags flying over recaptured territory.

The recapture raises the question of what Islamic State will do next. The group called on supporters yesterday to target people in the West with any weapons they could lay their hands on.