ISIS set to capture Kobani, finish major land grab

(CNN) - ISIS is getting closer to capturing a key city that would mark not just a huge strategic victory, but would also deal a devastating blow to the Syrian Kurds trapped by the group's violent campaign.

The city of Kobani sits near the Turkish border and would give ISIS a complete swath of land between its self-declared capital of Raqqa, Syria, and Turkey -- a stretch of more than 100 kilometers.

"We are afraid of this. We are obliged to defend our home, our town," Kurdish Kobani official Idriss Nassan said. "We didn't choose this war, but we are obliged to fight."

Members of the Kurdish People's Protection Unit, called YPG, and other groups defending the city couldn't move overnight because of ISIS snipers equipped with night vision equipment, the fighter inside the city told CNN.

Some ran north toward the border, trying to find safety in Turkey.

"It's the last chance to leave," said the fighter, who requested his name be withheld for security reasons.

ISIS managed to close in on Kobani despite airstrikes by the United States and allied forces over the weekend.

One attack destroyed two ISIS tanks, a bulldozer and another ISIS vehicle, U.S. Central Command said. Two airstrikes hit a large ISIS unit and destroyed six firing positions, the U.S. military said.

But such attacks aren't enough, Nassan said.

"When I talk to people here in Kobani, they thank the international community, and the United States, they thank the countries who are striking the ISIS. But everyone believes it is not enough," he said.

The "international community cannot defeat ISIS by just hitting them from the sky. They have to help the people who are fighting -- the YPG, the (rebel) Free Syrian Army who are here on the ground."

Bakudaily.Az