IS Controls 325 Villages Around Syrian Kurds’ Stronghold

Two weeks after IS began its advance on the strategic town, the jihadists has gained control of defensive lines of Kurdish militias east, south and west of Kobani, which is located on the Turkish-Syrian border, according to the London-based observatory.

The observatory reported earlier that IS was advancing from the east and had come within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the city, expressing fears that a massacre of Kurds would follow the fall of Kobani, even though 200,000 people have already fled the city.

The observatory said that 800 Syrian Kurds have gone missing and are presumed dead, though their deaths are still unconfirmed. It also said that IS has released 70 Kurdish students it abducted in May.

Their release comes after days of bombing by the international coalition of the village of Manbij, near Aleppo, where the students were believed to be held.