Surge of Syrian refugees fleeing into Turkey slows down

Suruc (Turkey), Sep 24 (IANS/EFE) The pace of arrival of Syrian refugees into Turkey, fleeing the brutality of Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, slowed down Wednesday, as the extremists tightened their grip on Kobani, one of the main Kurdish enclaves in northern Syria.

Orhan Sansal, mayor of the Turkish town of Suruc where there are thousands of Syrian Kurdish refugees, said in a statement to the daily Hurriyet that IS fighters were now two km from Kobani.

Sansal said the IS jihadis have surrounded the town and left only one corridor open to the north, from which more Kurds are expected to escape to Turkey due to the imminent risk posed by the extremists.

Meanwhile, Kurdish groups from Syria and Turkey are trying to cross the border into Syria to join the resistance in Kobani.

The IS has seized control of about 100 Kurdish villages in recent days and black flags of the radical group can be seen waving a few hundred metres away from the border villages in Turkey.

--IANS/EFE

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