--- description: If ISIS militants take control of Kobani, the Islamist terror group will have a huge strategic corridor along the Turkish border. title: ISIS Enters Kobani image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2121c8a23b3915/6986a74acd804d7921ccd2f2/rtr497d5.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Syria](/tag/syria/) ## Syria Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # ISIS Has Entered the Key Syrian Border Town of Kobani ## Video: Turkey's Prime Minister Says He Will Do Everything He Can [Watch (HLS stream): Turkey's Prime Minister Says He Will Do Everything He Can](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uD32kI7u.m3u8) (0:21)  _Published 2014-10-07. Turkey's Prime Minister Says He Will Do Everything He Can_ by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 8:36 AM CUT  Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani after a war plane carried out an air strike, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 7, 2014\. Islamic State fighters advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani overnight, a monitoring group said on Tuesday, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions from two sides of the city. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR497D5 Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani after a war plane carried out an air strike, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 7, 2014\. Islamic State fighters advanced into the south west of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani overnight, a monitoring group said on Tuesday, taking several buildings to gain attacking positions from two sides of the city. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR497D5© Umit Bektas / Reuters by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 8:36 AM CUT The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) entered Kobani on the Syria-Turkey border Monday, after intense street fighting with Kurdish forces trying to defend the Syrian town, the BBC [reports.](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29515431 "undefined") The Sunni militant extremists raised their black flags on several buildings, after pushing into three neighborhoods in the east of the city, also known as Ayn al-Arab. Kobani has been besieged for three weeks, and more than 160,000 civilians have fled to the Turkish border. ISIS fighters pushed through the defenses of the Syrian-Kurdish troops with tanks and artillery, killing many in street battles. The militants now have control of Mistenur, a key hill above the town, the BBC says. “They have surrounded us almost from every side with their tanks. They have been shelling the city with heavy weapons. Kurdish fighters are resisting as much as they can with the limited weapons they have,” Asya Abdullah, a senior Kurdish politician and co-leader of the Democratic Union Party, [told](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29515431 "undefined") the BBC. If the ISIS militants take control of Kobani, they will have a huge strategic corridor along the Turkish border, linking with the terrorist group’s [positions](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/07/isis-militants-enter-kobani-on-syrias-border-with-turkey "undefined") in Aleppo to the west and Raqqa to the east. Heavy clashes between ISIS fighters and Kurdish defenders raged all of Monday and over the weekend but despite the help of U.S.-led air strikes, the militants managed to close in on Kobani. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says he will do everything he can to save the people living in the border town. “We will do everything possible to help the people of Kobani because they are our brothers and sisters. We don’t see them as Kurds or Turkmen or Arabs.” He added that “if there is a need of intervention to Kobani,” then “there is a need of intervention \[in\] all Syria.” For the past [week](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/29/us-mideast-crisis-turkey-idUSKCN0HO14320140929 "undefined"), tanks belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces have been positioned on the hills close to Kobani in order to reinforce the border. But many Turkish Kurds and refugees have slammed Ankara for not doing enough to defeat ISIS, which is now knocking on Turkey’s front door. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/"},"headline":"ISIS Has Entered the Key Syrian Border Town of Kobani","datePublished":"2014-10-07T08:36:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:37:34.626Z","description":"Despite the help of U.S.-led air strikes, Kurdish fighters could not prevent the Sunni militants from closing in","url":"https://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/","keywords":["Syria","Refugees","ISIS","Turkey","Kobani"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2121c8a23b3915/6986a74acd804d7921ccd2f2/rtr497d5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7a2121c8a23b3915/6986a74acd804d7921ccd2f2/rtr497d5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani after a war plane carried out an air strike, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in Suruc","caption":"Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani after a war plane carried out an air strike, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in Suruc","creditText":"© Umit Bektas / Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/syria/","name":"Syria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/","name":"ISIS Has Entered the Key Syrian Border Town of Kobani"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Turkey's Prime Minister Says He Will Do Everything He Can","description":"Turkey's Prime Minister Says He Will Do Everything He Can","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uD32kI7u/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-07T04:50:17.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uD32kI7u.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/","duration":"PT21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3476929/isis-syria-kobani-is-isil/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```