ISIS Militants Launch Attack on a Major Military Air Base in Eastern Syria

The Islamic State (ISIS) launched an attack on a major military air base in what appears to be an attempt to eradicate the last major government base in the ISIS-dominated eastern region, AP reports.

ISIS has slowly been consolidating its control of Syria’s oil-producing Deir Ezzor province this year. The Assad regime has managed to push back the offensive in several areas including the local military air base. For ISIS, taking over the airport would eliminate a significant point of resistance in the area.

“The assault against the air base began under the cover of darkness with a suicide car bombing against a Syrian military position on the airfield’s outskirts,” the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

ISIS militants captured a succession of Syrian military bases this summer, effectively giving them control over the territory outside the northeastern city of Raqqa. The militants killed hundreds of Syrian troops after capturing the bases.The Syrian government came under scrutiny from its support base following the deaths.

U.N. Turns to Social Media for Syria Funds After Donor Shortfall

The World Food Programme launched a social media campaign Wednesday to raise the $64 million needed to help feed nearly 1.7 million refugees after it had to cut its voucher program due to lack of donor funds, AFP reports.

“Even $1 can make a difference. We’re saying to people: ‘For you it’s a dollar, for them it’s a lifeline,’” WFP head Ertharin Cousin said in a statement.

“All it takes is $1 from 64 million people,” she said.

‘We need the WFP money in order to eat. If we do not get it anymore, I do not know how we will live,” one refugee family told Syria Deeply.

The voucher program, which was suspended Monday, will be resumed as soon as the pledged cash is delivered. The WFP was very careful not to specify which countries had failed to honor cash pledges.

According to the U.N., over 7.2 million Syrians have been internally displaced and some 3.2 million have fled to neighboring countries, while more than half of Syria’s population has been forced to flee their homes since the beginning of the conflict.

Second Group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga Forces Enters Kobani

“A second group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces has entered the Syrian border town of Kobani from Turkey to replace a first group helping Kurdish forces fight off a siege by Islamic State militants,” Reuters reports.

Syrian Kurdish fighters have been resisting an ISIS advance in Kobani for nearly three months. The town has become a powerful international symbol in the fight against ISIS, who have seized large swaths of terrain in their attempt to create a self-styled Islamic caliphate.

Syrian Kurdish fighters, along with assistance from the Peshmergas and U.S.-led airstrikes, have made significant strides to trip the balance in the battle against ISIS.

Turkey has not played a significant role in the U.S.-led action against ISIS, as it insists that a strategy to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in place before it joins the coalition. Turkey did, however, allow Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to cross its territory into the Syrian border town of Kobani.

Recommended Reads:

• Al Jazeera: ‘Waynun’: Searching for Syria’s Disappeared
• Washington Post: A Safe Zone in Syria Would be a Forward Step in the Islamic State Fight
• AP: Kurds Doggedly Defend Ain al-Arab
• New York Times: Radio Free Syria
• AP: IS Attacks Government Airbase in Eastern Syria
• CNN: U.S. Options in Syria Shrivel as Islamists and Assad Regime Make Gains
• Reuters: U.N. Food Aid Halt Pushing More Syrian Refugees into Early Marriage
• Foreign Affairs: Not Alright With Syria’s Alawites

Photo Courtesy of AP Images