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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Observatory: At Least 41 Killed in Kurd-Jihadist Fighting
2013-10-17
[An Nahar] At least 41 fighters have been killed in violent festivities pitting Kurds against jihadists and Salafist tough guys in northeastern Syria, a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

Kurdish fighters from several villages in oil-rich Hasake province are engaged in combat against al-Qaeda affiliated groups the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al-Nusra Front, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"At least 41 fighters were killed, including 29 ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and Islamist fighters," said the Observatory, adding that one of the dead was a local Al-Nusra leader of Egyptian origin.

Also killed were "12 fighters from the Committees for the Protection of the Kurdish People" (YPG), said the Britannia-based group.

Clashes have raged in majority Kurdish areas for months, as the jihadist ISIL has sought to expel the YPG from areas under its control.

The latest round of fighting in Hasake broke out Tuesday morning, and resulted in the capture by YPG fighters of an ISIL checkpoint.

Analysts say ISIL aims to crush competition from other gangs active in areas out of the control of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
's regime, and that its war with the Kurds is part of its strategy for control of territory and resources.
Posted by:Fred

#3  The Kurds are on their own because the end game for the Kurdish groups, PPK, et al., is a greater Kurdistan which would absorb significant areas of Syria (Oil), Turkey (Oil), and Iraq (Oil). Are we seeing a trend here.

The Kurds could create a state to rival Israel in Moslem antipathy.

A greater Kurdistan makes sense in so many ways you can almost bet the bank it will never be allowed to happen. It is too rational a concept.

Heaven forbid! We have to protect the provisions of the Balfour Agreement no matter how irrational they were.
Posted by: Bill Clinton   2013-10-17 11:21  

#2  Too bad that we have such a feckless Mideast policy. Otherwise we could create an Eastern Kurdistan protectorate to include Hasaka and impose a no-fly zone over it. Unfortunately, we can not count on the support of Iraq or Turkey to make it work. This time the Kurds are on their own.
Posted by: Thumper Hatrack2359   2013-10-17 10:41  

#1  We should be funding/supporting the Kurds.
Posted by: Paul D   2013-10-17 06:31  

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