Witnesses Say ISIS Attacked From Turkey

Witnesses to ISIS attacks yesterday morning against the Mürşitpinar Border Crossing in Kobanê said ISIS truck bombs and fighters crossed from Turkey, contradicting claims made by the Turkish PM’s Press Office, according to an article by Ersin Çaksu and İbrahim Aslan for DİHA and carried in Özgür Gündem.

A local security officer (asayiş) in Kobanê named Ismail who was an eyewitness to the events told DİHA that “after the truck passed quickly through the border gate it detonated. Turkey also had its armored cars over there. The ISIS fighters were coming out from among them. As I was bringing a wounded friend of mine over here, I went on top of this building and I saw an ISIS fighter firing from atop a tree on that side and I fired at him.”

The Vehicle Came From The Other Side

Another local security officer, Elî, explained that “from around 04:00 in the morning the power was cut all along the border from the village of Mahser to the west. It was during this time that the vehicle came in from Turkey.”

Mihemed Heqî, a third security officer who was wounded in the attack, gave this information about what happened: “I heard the noise of a chain at some point while I was on guard duty. I looked in the direction that the sound came from. I saw that a vehicle was crossing through the border gate from Turkey and coming towards us. After it passed by us it turn onto the street and detonated. Then the house fell in upon us and we didn’t understand what was happening. I don’t know the rest. I only heard the sound of the vehicle coming through our gate but I didn’t hear the other gates. Turkey’s armored cars were also waiting across the border. The vehicle came right by them. At the same time there were around 50 ISIS fighters. Then they went up into the silos and set up sniper positions. The vehicle was a military vehicle. It was green. There was a dshk heavy machine-gun mounted on top. I saw it enter from Turkey. I watched it come as far as our gate.”

Another eyewitness to the events, Doctor Menav Kitlanî, had this to say: “I went down for guard duty. A mortar round fell close to us. While I was trying to figure out where it landed a truck with a bed crossed through the gate and detonated behind us. I saw that it came from Turkey with my own eyes and that it was the color of one of their vehicles.”