Kurds Fighting to Prevent Slaughter of 50,000 by ISIS

Kurdish fighters from Turkey and Iraq are rallying to stave-off ISIS forces surrounding about 50,000 Kurds in the area of northern Kobani in Syria. The Kurdish enclave is surrounded on three sides by ISIS; the fourth side borders Turkey, to where approximately 60,000 Kurds have already managed to flee. The Kurds have little doubt that if overrun by ISIS, the Kurdish population faces slaughter. The head of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union has put out a call for assistance from “all those who defend humane and democratic values.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that hundreds of Turkish-based fighters have answered the call. The PKK in Turkey has also sent support to their Syrian brothers. ISIS and the Kurds have skirmished for the past two years, but recently ISIS grew more potent as it swept through Iraq vanquishing Iraqi forces and taking over its sophisticated weaponry. Meanwhile, authorities in Belgium say they successfully thwarted attacks planned by Belgian nationals who had returned home after fighting in Syria and Iraq alongside ISIS forces.