Kurdish forces have now been defending Kobanê for 100 consecutive days after the Islamic State (IS) launched in September a vast offensive against this West Kurdish (Syria) city, on the Turkish-Syrian border. Kobanê is the capital of the eponymous canton, one of three that declared self-government in Western Kurdistan at the beginning of 2014. The IS announced it wishes to destroy all three Kurdish cantons.

The jihadists took control of virtually all the Kobanê canton territory during September. IS fighters tried a first assault on the city in early October, but the Kurdish YPG-YPJ armed forces prevented them from succeeding. But on October 7th, the jihadists broke YPG-YPJ lines and entered the city. Kobanê seemed doomed to fall, but then US-led airstrikes started to intensively hit IS positions.

Airstrikes allowed the YPG-YPJ to stabilize the front, and even to make some gains. The Kurdish militia also got the support from a group of South Kurdish (Iraq) Peshmerga, whom Turkey agreed to let to Kobanê.

Since then and up till now, the city has remained divided into a YPG-YPJ-controlled western half and a IS-occupied eastern half. The Kurdish militia has strategically advanced southwards, controlling several access roads. This map by Chuck Pfarrer shows the approximate situation as of yesterday:

KOBANE SITUATION MAP: 22 DEC. Kurds mark 100 days of resistance. Lines stable. #100DaysOfKobaneResistance#Kobanipic.twitter.com/dqBvzqZ8A2

— Chuck Pfarrer (@ChuckPfarrer) December 23, 2014

Islamic State's 'Kobanêgrad'

Kobanê has become a city of great symbolism. The YPG-YPJ want the battle to mark a turning point in IS progress in the region. Jihadist fighters had forged an aura of invincibility since they occupied large tracts of Syria and Iraq last spring. The Kurdish militia says the city should ultimately mean the same for the IS that Stalingrad meant for Hitler. Thus, Kurdish fighters sometimes refer to it by the name Kobanêgrad.

This symbolic and psychological importance did not go unnoticed in the rest of the world, where dozens of demonstrations have been held in support for the Kurds. The United States too decided to act in order to prevent the fall of the city. US government sources said in mid October the Kobanê battle helped show that IS jihadists "aren't ten feet tall." In this regard, the US changed their previous stance on the city's fate. At the very beginning of the IS offensive, Washington argued the city did not have strategical importance, while other places in Iraq and Syria were more relevant. But when it was about to fall, the US decided to launch dozens of airstrikes.

The battle is also highly symbolic because of the two opposing political and social models fighting there. On the one side, the Kobanê canton represents a secular, democratic, feminist, environmentalist and multiethnic project; on the other, the Islamic State strives to impose a strict Islamist, undemocratic, patriarchal model which does not respect human rights.

IS fighters pull back in Sinjar

Kobanê resistance is one among several bad news for the IS in Kurdistan. Since 17th December, a joint offensive by the Peshmerga, the YPG-YPJ, the armed wing of the PKK and two Yazidi militias, backed by US-led airstrikes, has broken the siege under which thousands of Yazidi Kurds were held by the IS on South Kurdistan's Mount Sinjar. IS had been encircling the mountain since August, and Yazidis there were at risk of death. Kurdish fighters and jihadists now fight for control over the town of Sinjar, south of the mountain.

David Forniès

(Image: a demonstration of support for Kobanê in London / picture by See Li.)