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ISIS’ Latest Assault Shows This Jihadi Menace Is Far From Defeated [PICTURE]

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Erica Wenig Contributor
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The Islamic State surprise-attacked a northern Syrian city less than six months after U.S. airstrikes and Kurdish forces ousted jihadis from the territory.

About 32 Islamic State fighters penetrated the Syria-Turkey border city of Kobani in five vehicles, according to The Washington Post. They detonated a car bomb and infiltrated the city, entering homes and killing civilians. A second car bomb exploded hours later.

Kobani has been under the control of Kurdish forces known as the People’s Protection Units or YPG since the Islamic State defeat in January.

“The death toll remained unclear. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict from Britain through contacts on the ground, said eight Islamic State fighters had been killed in addition to 12 civilians and Kurdish fighters,”  The New York Times reported

Islamic State fighters were reportedly disguised as Kurdish fighters and allied Syrian rebels from the Free Syrian Arm (FSA).

Militants briefly entered a village south of Kobani and executed 23 Syrian Kurds, including women and children, according to Agence France Presse. The Islamic State reportedly fled after airstrikes were launched by the U.S.-led coalition and Kurdish forces entered the village.

The U.S.-led coalition has launched five airstrikes in the vicinity of Kobani since Wednesday, coalition spokesperson Captain Nikolaj Thide told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an email.

The terror group also attacked the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah overnight, the BBC reported. Hundreds of Syrian Christians in Hasakah province were kidnapped by Islamic State militants in February.

Kurdish forces have diminished Islamic State capabilities recently. The YPG cut off a major Islamic State supply line by capturing Tel Abyad last week. They have advanced within 30 miles of the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. The Islamic State launched the attacks to divert forces away from the area.

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