Late last year, after months of assault by ISIS militants, many had given up the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani as lost. The fight continued through the winter, until monitors and spokesmen for the the Kurdish People's Protection Unit announced earlier this week that ISIS forces had been driven from Kobani, and that Kurds now controlled the city once again. The defeat is one of several recent losses ISIS has suffered across Syria and Iraq, as the group's rapid and violent territorial grabs have been stalled and pushed back by local armies and international forces. On January 27, the U.S. Central Command confirmed that the Kurds now control more than 90 percent of Kobani, though fighting continues on the outskirts. Wednesday, reporters and photographers ventured back into the recaptured city with YPG soldiers, documenting the wreckage left after months of ground battles and airstrikes.
Returning Syrian Kurds Find Recaptured Kobani in Ruins
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Wreckage left by fighting on a street in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ain al-Arab, on January 28. Kurdish forces recaptured the strategic town on the Turkish frontier on January 26 in a symbolic blow against ISIS jihadists who have seized swaths of territory in a brutal onslaught across Syria and Iraq. #
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Kurdish people celebrate near the Turkish-Syrian border at Suruc, in Sanliurfa province, on January 27. Kurdish fighters expelled ISIS militants from the Syrian border town of Kobani, a monitor and spokesman said. #
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Kurdish people hold a picture of fighter during a celebration rally near the Turkish-Syrian border at Suruc, in Sanliurfa province on January 27, who was killed in a conflict with ISIS in Kobani. #
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Kurdish people gather and flash the victory sign during a rally on January 27 in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, following news that Kurdish fighters drove ISIS fighters from the Syrian border town of Kobani. #
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A picture taken on January 26 in Sanliufra shows a flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) flying in the Syrian town Kobani, following clashes between Kurdish forces ISIS groups. #
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A Kurdish fighter smiles as he drives a car in the center of the Syrian border town of Kobani on January 28. Kurdish forces recaptured the strategic town on the Turkish frontier from ISIS militants on January 26. #
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A Kurdish fighter in the center of the Syrian border town of Kobani walks past a table with a flower arrangement placed in an empty shell casing on January 28. #
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