Smoke rises from the Syrian city of Kobani in this Nov. 17, 2014 file photo following an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition, seen from a hilltop outside Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border. The mass beheadings of Egyptian Christians by militants in Libya linked to the Islamic State group have thrown a spotlight on the threat the extremists pose beyond their heartland in Syria and Iraq, where they have established a self-declared proto-state. Militants in several countries – including Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Saudi Arabia – have pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The international fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group flared on several fronts over the past 24 hours, with reports emerging from Syria of a German woman killed fighting against the militants and an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition destroying an oil refinery in IS-controlled territory.
In Iraq, meanwhile, the Islamic State group is trying to fend off an offensive by government troops and Shiite militias against the central city of Tikrit, while new details emerged about an attack by Islamic State-affiliated militants in Libya.
Here’s a look at the latest developments:
This undated image released by the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, known as the YPG, on Monday, March 9, 2015 shows Ivana Hoffman, 19, a German citizen fighting with Kurdish militiamen who was killed Saturday battling the Islamic State group near the village of Tel Tamr, Syria, according to Kurdish officials and activists. Hoffman, born in Germany to South African parents, is the third foreign national and the first female foreign fighter known to be killed fighting with Kurdish forces against the Islamic State group. AP
GERMAN WOMAN KILLED FIGHTING WITH KURDS AGAINST IS GROUP
A German woman was killed during heavy clashes in northwestern Syria, officials said Monday, becoming the third known Westerner to be killed after joining Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants.
Ivana Hoffmann, 19, died Saturday while fighting with the Peoples Protection Units, known as the YPG, near the Syrian village of Tel Tamr in Hassakeh province. Born in Germany to South African parents, Hoffman was a member of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) in Turkey and joined YPG fighters about six months ago, the party said in a statement. It referred to Hoffmann by her nom de guerre, Avashin Tekoshin, and said she died in pre-dawn clashes with Islamic State militants Saturday.
A video posted early Monday morning on a Facebook page memorializing Hoffmann shows a woman with her face covered by a scarf holding a weapon. “I decided to come to Rojava because they are fighting for humanity here, for rights and for internationalism that the MLKP represents,” she said in German, referring to the now largely autonomous areas in north and north-eastern Syria run by Kurds. “We are here as the MLKP to fight for freedom. Rojava is the beginning. Rojava is hope.”
German authorities say some 650 people have traveled from Germany to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic militant groups, but they haven’t said how many are estimated to have joined Kurdish or Christian groups opposing IS.
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US-LED COALITION AIRSTRIKES HIT IS-HELD REFINERY
Coalition warplanes bombed a refinery near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad on the Turkish border late Sunday, lighting up the night sky with an enormous fireball, activists said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes killed some 30 people.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement Monday that coalition aircraft struck an IS “modular oil refinery” near the town of Kobani on the Turkish border. Kobani is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Tel Abyad.
The Islamic State group, which controls about a third of Syria and Iraq, sells black-market oil to help fund its conquests, making makeshift refineries and other fuel-related facilities in IS-held territory frequent targets for coalition jets.
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IRAQI GOVERNMENT PRESSES TIKRIT OFFENSIVE
Iraqi troops and Shiite militias forged ahead with their offensive to retake Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State militants. The operation, which is taking place without U.S. assistance, has clawed back a few villages and towns since it began last week, most notably Dawr, south of Tikrit.
Directing the offensive is Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani, commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force. The overt Iranian role and the prominence of Shiite militias in the campaign have raised fears of possible sectarian cleansing should Tikrit, an overwhelmingly Sunni city, fall.
On Monday, Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi said Iraq is balancing the assistance it receives from the U.S. and Iran. He said Tehran is primarily helping with the Shiite militias, but that Baghdad welcomes “help from any country.”
Kurdish peshmerga forces meanwhile said they cleared a 100-square kilometer (40-square mile) area south and west of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, securing a section of the main road that leads to the militant-held city of Mosul. The two-pronged ground offensive was supported by coalition airstrikes, the Kurdish Regional Security Council said Monday.
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NEW DETAILS ON ATTACK ON LIBYAN OIL FIELD
Militants from Libya’s Islamic State affiliate beheaded eight Libyan guards in an attack on a central oil field last week during which the extremists also abducted nine foreigners, a Libyan spokesman said Monday.
In the Philippines, authorities said four Filipinos were among the nine taken captive during the assault Friday on the al-Ghani oil field, some 750 kilometers (480 miles) southeast of the Libyan capital. An Austrian, a Czech, a Bangladeshi and a Ghana national were also taken, while one hostage remains unidentified.
A series of attacks in recent weeks have forced Libya to declare 11 oil fields non-operational, including al-Ghani, and invoke a force majeure clause that exempts the state from contractual obligations. Libya’s military spokesman, Ahmed al-Mesmari, warned that Islamic State militants’ long-term goal is to take over Libya’s petroleum industry.
Al-Mesmari also said that during the attack, an employee watched the beheadings of the eight oil guards and subsequently died of a heart attack. He did not elaborate on how the army knew about the beheadings.