Syrian Kurds: 'We will fight Daesh' - Time for Turkey to shit or get off the pot [View all]

[Baclava]

Violence in Ain al-Arab has prompted many Kurdish Syrians to flee to Turkey, but others are returning to battle ISIL.

Mursitpinar, Turkey - Dangling a thick plastic bag that carries many 250ml water bottles, eight-year-old Ali, a Syrian refugee who is now on the Turkish border, looks around to offer water to worried-looking men.



"Take it," he insists, as hundreds of Kurdish men, women and children - some sitting on the ground and others standing - watch a battle unfold mere kilometres away between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Kurdish fighters in Ain al-Arab, called Kobane by the Kurds.

Ali's father and older cousins are among the Kurdish group across the border. "They are not trained and have never picked up a gun, but they are helping the fighters in whatever way they can," said Ali's 34-year-old mother, who crossed to the Turkish side of the border for her own protection.

As ISIL fighters rampaged towards the town of Ain al-Arab after taking more than 100 surrounding small villages in the past week, People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters have resisted them. The YPG is a Kurdish rebel group operating on Syrian territory; it is primarily the only Kurdish group fighting ISIL, although some sources say Syrian rebels who fought against Assad are aiding them.

Echoes of gunfire frequently ring through the sky, while Kurds in the Turkish district of Suruc cheer on their brethren. "Kobane! Kobane!" they cry as the Kurds fire on ISIL. Passing pairs of binoculars around, they all take turns to spot black-clad ISIL fighters on one side and Kurds on the other - although in some areas, the battle is so close they do not need binoculars.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/will-fight-daesh-2014928101835679118.html