Islamic State fighting near Syria-Turkey border sparks panicked exodus

JUDY WOODRUFF:

As President Obama readies to make the case against the Islamic State group later this week at the United Nations, the situation on the ground appears more desperate. The militants killed 40 Iraqi soldiers on Sunday. And fighting near Syria's border with Turkey has sparked yet another crisis.

By the thousands, Syrian refugees kept pouring over the border into Turkey today, trying to escape fighting near a key border town. Some estimates said more than 130,000 people, mostly Kurds, have crossed in the last four days. In their wake, Islamic State militants and Syrian Kurdish militia battled for control of Kobani, also known also by its Arabic name, Ayn-al-Arab.

Separately, Turkish Kurds clashed with Turkish security forces yesterday and again today, as they sought to enter Syria to help their fellow Kurds. And some Syrian Kurdish men who had brought their families to safety queued up to go back to Syria.

MAN (through interpreter):

We are returning back to fight. We will fight there until the last drop of our blood. If we lose Kobani, it means we lose the region.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Amid the panicked exodus, the Turkish deputy prime minister said more than a quarter of the region's people have already fled. He expected many more.

NUMAN KURTULMUS, Deputy Prime Minister, Turkey (through interpreter):

The total population in the area is around 400,000 and we think that some of those people moved to other places inside Syria, but we still expect an influx of hundreds of thousands of people.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The weekend also brought news that 49 Turkish hostages held by Islamic State militants had been freed. Turkish officials say no ransom was paid, nor was it a military operation, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan didn't rule out that a prisoner swap occurred.

PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkey (through interpreter):

A swap might have taken place or not; 49 citizens have returned to Turkey. We wouldn't trade this for the world. This is not an issue that we discuss. Even if there was a swap, as a president, I would think the lives of 49 citizens are irreplaceable.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Up to now, Turkey has rejected a major role in the coalition against the Islamic State group in Iraq and potentially Syria. This morning, Secretary of State John Kerry suggested Ankara's attitude should change.

JOHN KERRY, Secretary of State: Their border is threatened. Their security is threatened. And they are committed to doing this, but they first needed to deal with their hostage situation. Now the proof will be in the pudding, as I said, and we will work with them very closely in the days ahead.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

But the Islamic State's chief spokesman came a call for militants to target Western nations who join the fight.

SHEIKH ABU MOHAMMAD AL-ADNANI AL-SHAMI, Islamic State Group spokesman (through interpreter): If you can kill a disbelieving American or European, especially the spiteful and filthy French, or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever, including citizens of the countries that have waged a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon God, and kill them in any manner you can.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Within hours, a splinter group in Algeria posted video of a kidnapped Frenchman. He said he will be killed unless France quits the U.S.-led air campaign in Iraq.

As for the ground war, President Obama signed a bill Friday, including $500 million to train and arm a rebel faction, the Free Syrian Army, to fight Islamic State forces. Senior U.S. military leaders have said it could take up to one year to train the first 5,000 fighters. And some lawmakers, including Republican Senator John McCain, have questioned the practicality of having the FSA focus solely on the Islamic extremists, and not on the Assad government.

The chief of the principal political opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, is Hadhi al-Bahra. He took over in early July and will address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.