Idaho Woman Shot by Son at Walmart Remembered as Scientist, Loving Mom
The young woman who was accidentally shot and killed by her 2-year-old son with her own gun is remembered as a loving mom and a scientist who was a star student at her rural high school in Idaho.Veronica Rutledge, who police say died after her toddler removed a concealed handgun from her purse at…ABC NewsIdaho Woman Shot by Son at Walmart Remembered as Scientist, Loving Mom
By RHEANA MURRAY 2 hours agoIdaho Woman Shot by Son at Walmart Remembered as Scientist, Loving Mom (ABC News)The young woman who was accidentally shot and killed by her 2-year-old son with her own gun is remembered as a loving mom and a scientist who was a star student at her rural high school in Idaho.Veronica Rutledge, who police say died after her toddler removed a concealed handgun from her purse at Walmart and shot her, worked at the Idaho National Laboratory. She was also a responsible gun owner, her father-in-law said.Terry Rutledge described the 29-year-old woman as a "beautiful, young, loving mother" in an interview with The Associated Press.
Mom Shot, Killed By 2-Year-Old Son at Walmart"She was not the least bit irresponsible," he said. "She was taken much too soon."
Rutledge, who lived in Blackfoot, Idaho, died at the Hayden store Tuesday. She grew up about an hour away in St. Maries, where she was the valedictorian of her class at Kootenai High School, according to ABC affiliate KXLY. She graduated from North Idaho College with a chemistry degree in 2010, according to a commencement program, and has since been listed as a researcher or author on multiple scientific papers.
"The lab is very saddened by this tragic event and we offer our deepest sympathies to the family," Nicole Stricker of the Idaho National Laboratory told ABC News in a statement.
Rutledge and her husband, Colt Rutledge, married in 2009. Facebook photos show her in hunting gear or posing outside or with her son, as friends and family members post mournful messages.
Police said her son was sitting in a shopping cart in the electronics section of the Walmart when he removed the gun from her purse and fired the weapon just once, killing his mother instantly.
Walmart called the woman's death a "very sad and tragic incident" and said it is working with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office to investigate the incident.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Idaho Woman Shot by Son at Walmart Remembered as Scientist, Loving Mom
Calif. snowstorm leaves hundreds stranded
Calif. snowstorm leaves hundreds stranded
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180 drivers rescued from Southern California snowstorm
The coldest snowstorm so far this winter didn’t hit Chicago or the East Coast, but Southern California.
The San Bernardino Mountains, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, were buried in windswept snow Tuesday. Firefighters rescued over 180 stranded drivers as of early Wednesday morning, using SnowCats to plow through the 12-plus inches of snow covering the steep, winding Highway 138. Drivers were taken to a ski lodge, a fire station and a nearby church, where Red Cross workers administered aid, while others either left their cars and walked to shelter or drove away once the roads were cleared.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department tweeted this picture of the snowplow mission at 6:34 a.m., announcing that their rescues were complete.
Some drivers tweeted about their plight while stranded in their cars.The San Bernardino Mountains, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, were buried in windswept snow Tuesday. Firefighters rescued over 180 stranded drivers as of early Wednesday morning, using SnowCats to plow through the 12-plus inches of snow covering the steep, winding Highway 138. Drivers were taken to a ski lodge, a fire station and a nearby church, where Red Cross workers administered aid, while others either left their cars and walked to shelter or drove away once the roads were cleared.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department tweeted this picture of the snowplow mission at 6:34 a.m., announcing that their rescues were complete.
Others waited until they were safe home.
Fortunately,
no one in San Bernardino was hurt, but other parts of the typically
sunny state weren’t as lucky. Northern California was blasted with high
winds that knocked out power for more than 8,000 people in Sacramento
and blocked both road and train traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The weather’s wrath proved not only to be inconvenient, but deadly.
Falling trees left two people dead
in separate incidents in Butte County, north of Sacramento, with one
crashing onto a car, the other into a home, killing those inside.
One woman in Elk Grove, right outside Sacramento, told the local NBC News affiliate that a sixth sense saved her from the 30-year-old tree that fell onto her house, Tuesday.
“I had a premonition,” Tracy Tillotson said. “Something told me to leave the home, so I left for about 10 minutes. And I came back and the tree was in my house.”
One woman in Elk Grove, right outside Sacramento, told the local NBC News affiliate that a sixth sense saved her from the 30-year-old tree that fell onto her house, Tuesday.
“I had a premonition,” Tracy Tillotson said. “Something told me to leave the home, so I left for about 10 minutes. And I came back and the tree was in my house.”
the 11 declared wars the U.S. Congress voted on
quote From Fareed Zacharia on CNN Decmeber 7th 2014
Official declarations of War by the U.S. Congress
Great Britain 1812- The white house was burned down during this war and from it came "The Star Spangled Banner" song.
Mexico 1846
Spain 1898
Germany1917
Austria-Hungary 1917
Japan 1941
Germany1941
Italy 1941
Bulgaria 1942
Hungary 1942
Romania 1942
These are the 11 declared wars the U.S. Congress voted to start or end.
end quote from Fareed Zacharia GPS CNN.
Official declarations of War by the U.S. Congress
Great Britain 1812- The white house was burned down during this war and from it came "The Star Spangled Banner" song.
Mexico 1846
Spain 1898
Germany1917
Austria-Hungary 1917
Japan 1941
Germany1941
Italy 1941
Bulgaria 1942
Hungary 1942
Romania 1942
These are the 11 declared wars the U.S. Congress voted to start or end.
end quote from Fareed Zacharia GPS CNN.
Fareed Zacharia Quote: 558 killings by police missing from records (2007 to 2012)
This is a quote from Fareed Zacharia GPS on CNN on 12-7-14
Internal Agency Reports 1800
FBI reports 1242
Missing killings 558
So, what appears to be happening (according to Fareed Zacharia) is that there are 558 killings by police that the public has never heard about and are even missing from police records entirely in some cases.
Young Black men were 21 times more likely to be shot dead than whites between 2010 and 2012.
1 out of every 3 black men can expect to go to prison at some time during their lifetime.
end quote.
My thought is that as smaller and smaller percentages of people control more and more vast resources (presently 10% of people in the U.S. control 90% of the resources) it is much easier to hide deaths.
I don't think this is necessarily the fault of individual policemen but rather the system has been corrupted by the money in too few people's hands. With a dying middle Class the Middle class can no longer protect the poor and the middle class people here. And the rich tend to protect their own.
However, this means often poor and middle class people will fall through the cracks of our criminal justice system the way things presently are caused by money in too few people's hands.
What happens in real time is that middle class and poor people are having to spend so many hours just to make ends meet that they don't have enough free time to fight for the rights of the poor and middle class. So, more and more poor and middle class people lose not only their rights but also the right to even live at all.
For example, the Civil Rights Bill passed partly because of President Johnson but also because the middle class and poor were the richest they had ever been (buying power wise) in the whole history of the U.S. during the 1960s.
Presently, I think you might have to go back all the way to the 1950s or 1940s to compare the buying power of the middle class and poor today of what they can and cannot afford for working during an 8 hour day.
What are the major reasons for this?
Union busting starting with Reagan.
Globalization ended the higher wages in countries like the U.S.
The coup De Grace came from the Great Recession which ended most middle class people investing
in the Stock market and most homes losing 50% to 75% of their value. This combination stole 50% to 75% of the middle class and poors life savings because most people's biggest investment is in their homes. So, 50% to 70% of the wealth of the poor and middle class left and might not ever come back.
And this series of actions directly relates to young black men dying in greater numbers at the hands of the police than White or Hispanic or Asian men.
In 1960 to 1965 a 17 year old white male could support 5 people easily and be married by being something like a garbage man or a carpenter or other tradesman. However, I wouldn't say that is still true today.
Today one person is lucky to be able to support himself or herself at all without a college education of some sort.
Internal Agency Reports 1800
FBI reports 1242
Missing killings 558
So, what appears to be happening (according to Fareed Zacharia) is that there are 558 killings by police that the public has never heard about and are even missing from police records entirely in some cases.
Young Black men were 21 times more likely to be shot dead than whites between 2010 and 2012.
1 out of every 3 black men can expect to go to prison at some time during their lifetime.
end quote.
My thought is that as smaller and smaller percentages of people control more and more vast resources (presently 10% of people in the U.S. control 90% of the resources) it is much easier to hide deaths.
I don't think this is necessarily the fault of individual policemen but rather the system has been corrupted by the money in too few people's hands. With a dying middle Class the Middle class can no longer protect the poor and the middle class people here. And the rich tend to protect their own.
However, this means often poor and middle class people will fall through the cracks of our criminal justice system the way things presently are caused by money in too few people's hands.
What happens in real time is that middle class and poor people are having to spend so many hours just to make ends meet that they don't have enough free time to fight for the rights of the poor and middle class. So, more and more poor and middle class people lose not only their rights but also the right to even live at all.
For example, the Civil Rights Bill passed partly because of President Johnson but also because the middle class and poor were the richest they had ever been (buying power wise) in the whole history of the U.S. during the 1960s.
Presently, I think you might have to go back all the way to the 1950s or 1940s to compare the buying power of the middle class and poor today of what they can and cannot afford for working during an 8 hour day.
What are the major reasons for this?
Union busting starting with Reagan.
Globalization ended the higher wages in countries like the U.S.
The coup De Grace came from the Great Recession which ended most middle class people investing
in the Stock market and most homes losing 50% to 75% of their value. This combination stole 50% to 75% of the middle class and poors life savings because most people's biggest investment is in their homes. So, 50% to 70% of the wealth of the poor and middle class left and might not ever come back.
And this series of actions directly relates to young black men dying in greater numbers at the hands of the police than White or Hispanic or Asian men.
In 1960 to 1965 a 17 year old white male could support 5 people easily and be married by being something like a garbage man or a carpenter or other tradesman. However, I wouldn't say that is still true today.
Today one person is lucky to be able to support himself or herself at all without a college education of some sort.
375 consecutive days with temperature over 60: The streak is overLos Angeles Times
If you were wondering where Fallbrook and Murrieta are they are north of Escondido and San Diego if you travel basically north on Interstate 15 from San Diego or Escondido. Snow is about as unusual there as in Los Angeles.
375 consecutive days with temperature over 60: The streak is over
The
streak is over. The storm that has brought snow to some parts of
Southern California has ended a 375-day stretch in which high
temperatures in downtown Los Angeles reached at least 60 degrees.
On Tuesday, the high in downtown L.A. was 56 degrees.
This was the second-longest string of consecutive days with highs of at least 60 downtown since record-keeping began in 1877.
The longest such streak stretched for a whopping 629 days -- from Feb. 27, 1993, to Nov. 17, 1994.
A few more weather facts:
-- It's cold all over. The lowest temperature in the United States on Wednesday so far was in Daniel, Wyo., where it was 48 below zero just before sunrise, said Susan Buchanan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
-- The average high temperature in Los Angeles in December is 71 degrees, and the average low is 49.
-- The record high temperature in California -- a blazing 134 degrees Fahrenheit -- was set on July 10, 1913, in Death Valley, according to census records.
-- The record low temperature of 45 below zero in California was on Jan. 20, 1937.
-- In November 2014, the average temperature in the contiguous U.S. was 39.3 degrees, which is 2.4 degrees below the 20th century average, according to NOAA. A huge swath of the Midwest and East saw temperatures "much below average" for the month. California, however, was "much above average" in November.
Twitter: @JosephSerna, @AmyTheHub
end quote from:
375 consecutive days with temperature over 60: The streak is over
375 consecutive days with temperature over 60: The streak is over
375 consecutive days with temperature over 60: The streak is over
On Tuesday, the high in downtown L.A. was 56 degrees.
This was the second-longest string of consecutive days with highs of at least 60 downtown since record-keeping began in 1877.
The longest such streak stretched for a whopping 629 days -- from Feb. 27, 1993, to Nov. 17, 1994.
A few more weather facts:
-- It's cold all over. The lowest temperature in the United States on Wednesday so far was in Daniel, Wyo., where it was 48 below zero just before sunrise, said Susan Buchanan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
-- The average high temperature in Los Angeles in December is 71 degrees, and the average low is 49.
-- The record high temperature in California -- a blazing 134 degrees Fahrenheit -- was set on July 10, 1913, in Death Valley, according to census records.
-- The record low temperature of 45 below zero in California was on Jan. 20, 1937.
-- In November 2014, the average temperature in the contiguous U.S. was 39.3 degrees, which is 2.4 degrees below the 20th century average, according to NOAA. A huge swath of the Midwest and East saw temperatures "much below average" for the month. California, however, was "much above average" in November.
Twitter: @JosephSerna, @AmyTheHub
end quote from:
375 consecutive days with temperature over 60: The streak is over
Idaho shooting victim supported gun rights
| Lynchburg News and Advance | - |
This
photo shows Wal-Mart with a shopping cart in the foreground in Hayden,
Idaho, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and
killed his mother after he reached into her purse at the northern Idaho
Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, ...
Toddler reaches into purse and gun goes off, killing momUS
Idaho shooting victim supported gun rights
This photo shows Wal-Mart with a shopping
cart in the foreground in Hayden, Idaho, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. A
2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached
into her purse at the northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun
fired, authorities said Tuesday. (AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review, Kathy
Plonka) COEUR D'ALENE PRESS OUT
Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2014 2:33 pm
|
Updated: 4:15 pm, Wed Dec 31, 2014.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP)
— Concealed weapons are part of everyday life in Idaho, and that's
unlikely to change in the Mountain West state despite a shocking
accident in which a 2-year-old boy reached into his mother's purse,
grabbed her gun and shot her in the head inside a Wal-Mart.
Veronica J.
Rutledge was shopping Tuesday morning with her son and three nieces in
Hayden, Idaho, when the young boy got ahold of the small-caliber
handgun. It discharged one time, killing her, Kootenai County sheriff's
spokesman Stu Miller said.
Miller said the boy, Rutledge's only child, had
been left in a shopping cart with the purse. The 29-year-old Rutledge
had a concealed weapons permit.
About 7 percent of adults in Idaho had concealed weapons permits at the end of 2012, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. That ranked Idaho among the top third of states.
Kootenai County, which has about 140,000 residents, has issued close to 16,000 concealed weapons permits, Miller said Wednesday.
"It's very commonplace in northern Idaho for folks to have a concealed weapons permit," Miller said, and most businesses do not prohibit firearms.
Guns were a big part of Rutledge's life.
"She was not the least bit irresponsible," her father-in-law, Terry Rutledge said, in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.
Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post that Veronica Rutledge and her husband practiced at shooting ranges and each had a concealed weapons permit. He said for Christmas this year, her husband gave her the purse with a special zippered pocket for a concealed weapon.
Veronica Rutledge lived in Blackfoot, in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the Hayden area to visit relatives for Christmas.
She was an employee of the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she was a nuclear scientist. The laboratory supports the U.S. Department of Energy in nuclear and energy research and national defense.
"We're deeply saddened by this tragedy," said Nicole Stricker, a spokeswoman for the lab.
Rutledge graduated from high school in Harrison, a lakeside town in the Idaho Panhandle. She was the valedictorian of her class. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in chemistry.
She had taken the children to Wal-Mart on Tuesday morning to spend their Christmas gift cards, family members said.
Responding deputies found Rutledge dead in the electronics section of the Wal-Mart in Hayden, a rural town of about 12,000 people 40 miles northeast of Spokane.
Colt Rutledge, 32, arrived to the store in Idaho's northern panhandle shortly after the shooting around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, Miller said. All the children were taken to a relative's house.
Officers viewed surveillance video provided by the store to determine what happened, Miller said.
Like other Western states, gun rights are a big issue in Idaho. State lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year allowing concealed weapons on the state's public college and university campuses.
Despite facing opposition from all eight of the state's university college presidents, lawmakers sided with gun-rights advocates who said the law would better uphold the Second Amendment.
Terry Rutledge told AP that his daughter-in-law "was a beautiful, young, loving mother."
"She was taken much too soon," he said.
end quote from:
About 7 percent of adults in Idaho had concealed weapons permits at the end of 2012, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. That ranked Idaho among the top third of states.
Kootenai County, which has about 140,000 residents, has issued close to 16,000 concealed weapons permits, Miller said Wednesday.
"It's very commonplace in northern Idaho for folks to have a concealed weapons permit," Miller said, and most businesses do not prohibit firearms.
Guns were a big part of Rutledge's life.
"She was not the least bit irresponsible," her father-in-law, Terry Rutledge said, in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.
Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post that Veronica Rutledge and her husband practiced at shooting ranges and each had a concealed weapons permit. He said for Christmas this year, her husband gave her the purse with a special zippered pocket for a concealed weapon.
Veronica Rutledge lived in Blackfoot, in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the Hayden area to visit relatives for Christmas.
She was an employee of the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she was a nuclear scientist. The laboratory supports the U.S. Department of Energy in nuclear and energy research and national defense.
"We're deeply saddened by this tragedy," said Nicole Stricker, a spokeswoman for the lab.
Rutledge graduated from high school in Harrison, a lakeside town in the Idaho Panhandle. She was the valedictorian of her class. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in chemistry.
She had taken the children to Wal-Mart on Tuesday morning to spend their Christmas gift cards, family members said.
Responding deputies found Rutledge dead in the electronics section of the Wal-Mart in Hayden, a rural town of about 12,000 people 40 miles northeast of Spokane.
Colt Rutledge, 32, arrived to the store in Idaho's northern panhandle shortly after the shooting around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, Miller said. All the children were taken to a relative's house.
Officers viewed surveillance video provided by the store to determine what happened, Miller said.
Like other Western states, gun rights are a big issue in Idaho. State lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year allowing concealed weapons on the state's public college and university campuses.
Despite facing opposition from all eight of the state's university college presidents, lawmakers sided with gun-rights advocates who said the law would better uphold the Second Amendment.
Terry Rutledge told AP that his daughter-in-law "was a beautiful, young, loving mother."
"She was taken much too soon," he said.
end quote from:
Idaho shooting victim supported gun rights
There is technology available where no one can shoot a gun but you. So, likely if you are around children under a certain age this might be useful to both you and their staying around.
You can't have loaded guns around kids at the "Goofy" stage which is always anyone under about 4 years of age. In the old days kids were trained to be around guns and scared within an inch of their lives regarding what they could and could not touch when.
If you are going to have guns that are loaded around kids you have to train them and scare them enough to listen to you and do what you say.
If you can't do that for any reason at all then a loaded gun is going to get either you or they killed or maimed one day.
This is only practical.
intuitivefred888 is averaging over 30,000 visits per month now
This seems pretty incredible to me but nevertheless it is still true. So, thanks for sharing my interests as I share with you what seems important in the world or just to me. Either way, thanks for sharing my interests and what fascinates me about the world. If we can solve enough of our own problems and the world's the human race might just stay viable for millions of years to come somehow.
20 Years
I have been dating or married to my present wife now 20 years which is a long time. And looking back now I have been married to someone most years now since 1974 except maybe 2 or 3 when I was a single father. He is now 40 and working as a teacher and has a bachelor of Science degree.
Before I married my present wife I had moved about 50 times in my life. I didn't start this trend because before I was 21 my family had moved 10 times from my birth to age 21. We had moved at least three times before I was 4 years old. and the next 7 times were in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties in California.
So, moving was something the family did to have a different experience or to move to a better job or whatever. So, I continued this family process until I met my present wife at age 46 and remarried and had another daughter who is now in college. For me, looking back now it is amazing to me that I have been married over half my life now because I have been married at least 37 years of my life already in total.
I found I liked being a Dad and being married is helpful in raising your kids right. So, this likely is why I have been married so much of my life. However, this also is the second time I have had to face "The Empty Nest Syndrome" which is a tough one for parents (especially if that is your primary identity (the way you see yourself) in your life.
I noticed this Christmas vacation that most kids that went away to college (friends of my youngest daughter) looked kind of "blown away" by their college experience or coming back for Christmas or both (probably both). This makes sense because college is sort of an "out of body" experience unless you have a job in the real world or are living at home with your parents. (IN other words having some useful reality to ground you into reality in some way. College is just so theoretical in so many ways.
Will you actually use what you are studying ever?
That of course depends upon what you are studying.
If you are there because your parents have told you you have to be there, then you might not benefit from it very much.
However, if your heart burns to learn what you are actually learning about then you might find college useful.
Either way 20 years is a long time to be married to anyone, especially after all your kids have moved away to college or careers.
However, I find New Years Eve and Day sort of a weird experience anyway. Especially because anything after 1973 for me sort of seems like living in the future. (I grew up during the 1950s and 1960s and was 21 in 1969.
Before I married my present wife I had moved about 50 times in my life. I didn't start this trend because before I was 21 my family had moved 10 times from my birth to age 21. We had moved at least three times before I was 4 years old. and the next 7 times were in Los Angeles and San Diego Counties in California.
So, moving was something the family did to have a different experience or to move to a better job or whatever. So, I continued this family process until I met my present wife at age 46 and remarried and had another daughter who is now in college. For me, looking back now it is amazing to me that I have been married over half my life now because I have been married at least 37 years of my life already in total.
I found I liked being a Dad and being married is helpful in raising your kids right. So, this likely is why I have been married so much of my life. However, this also is the second time I have had to face "The Empty Nest Syndrome" which is a tough one for parents (especially if that is your primary identity (the way you see yourself) in your life.
I noticed this Christmas vacation that most kids that went away to college (friends of my youngest daughter) looked kind of "blown away" by their college experience or coming back for Christmas or both (probably both). This makes sense because college is sort of an "out of body" experience unless you have a job in the real world or are living at home with your parents. (IN other words having some useful reality to ground you into reality in some way. College is just so theoretical in so many ways.
Will you actually use what you are studying ever?
That of course depends upon what you are studying.
If you are there because your parents have told you you have to be there, then you might not benefit from it very much.
However, if your heart burns to learn what you are actually learning about then you might find college useful.
Either way 20 years is a long time to be married to anyone, especially after all your kids have moved away to college or careers.
However, I find New Years Eve and Day sort of a weird experience anyway. Especially because anything after 1973 for me sort of seems like living in the future. (I grew up during the 1950s and 1960s and was 21 in 1969.
US-led Forces Launch 10 Airstrikes in Syria, Iraq
| Voice of America | - |
The U.S.-led coalition launched seven airstrikes in Syria and three in Iraq on Wednesday against Islamic State militants, the Combined Joint Task Force said in a statement.
News / Middle East
US-led Forces Launch 10 Airstrikes in Syria, Iraq
December 31, 2014 10:34 AM
The U.S.-led coalition launched seven airstrikes in Syria and three
in Iraq on Wednesday against Islamic State militants, the Combined
Joint Task Force said in a statement.
In Syria, five of the airstrikes were near Kobani and two were near al Hasakah, the task force said in a statement. Two of the strikes in Iraq hit Islamic State positions near Fallujah and one hit targets near Mosul, the statement said.
Syrian Kurds retake most of Kobani from IS
Kurdish forces have regained control of around 70 percent of Kobani, a Syrian town near the Turkish border, after pushing back IS fighters, a group monitoring the war said Wednesday.
Backed by U.S-led airstrikes, Kurdish forces made significant advances overnight Tuesday after violent clashes with the IS group in the southern part of town, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, Kobani has become a symbol in the fight between the extremist group and its enemies in Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of IS fighters launched a sustained attack on the town beginning in September.
U.S.-led coalition forces have bombed IS positions around the predominantly Kurdish town almost every day this month.
FILE
- Kurdish fighter Pervin Kobani rides in the back of a pickup truck
through Kobani, Syria. Female fighters have been integral to the war
efforts.
The Observatory, which gathers information from sources in Syria,
said Kurdish fighters now control southern and central parts of the town
as well as most of the west in an area stretching up to the border.
Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said Kobani was the only clear example of U.S-led forces cooperating with fighters on the ground in Syria to push back the Islamic State.
"There are airstrikes every day. They have destroyed many Islamic State bases in Kobani. If there had been no airstrikes, then I think Kobani would have been controlled by Islamic State by now," Abdulrahman said. He added that Kurdish forces were close to controlling the entire town.
The United States has said it wants to train and equip "moderate" rebel groups to fight Islamic State on the ground elsewhere in Syria, but rebels say there is much uncertainty surrounding the plans.
end quote from:
In Syria, five of the airstrikes were near Kobani and two were near al Hasakah, the task force said in a statement. Two of the strikes in Iraq hit Islamic State positions near Fallujah and one hit targets near Mosul, the statement said.
Syrian Kurds retake most of Kobani from IS
Kurdish forces have regained control of around 70 percent of Kobani, a Syrian town near the Turkish border, after pushing back IS fighters, a group monitoring the war said Wednesday.
Backed by U.S-led airstrikes, Kurdish forces made significant advances overnight Tuesday after violent clashes with the IS group in the southern part of town, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, Kobani has become a symbol in the fight between the extremist group and its enemies in Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of IS fighters launched a sustained attack on the town beginning in September.
U.S.-led coalition forces have bombed IS positions around the predominantly Kurdish town almost every day this month.
FILE
- Kurdish fighter Pervin Kobani rides in the back of a pickup truck
through Kobani, Syria. Female fighters have been integral to the war
efforts.Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory, said Kobani was the only clear example of U.S-led forces cooperating with fighters on the ground in Syria to push back the Islamic State.
"There are airstrikes every day. They have destroyed many Islamic State bases in Kobani. If there had been no airstrikes, then I think Kobani would have been controlled by Islamic State by now," Abdulrahman said. He added that Kurdish forces were close to controlling the entire town.
The United States has said it wants to train and equip "moderate" rebel groups to fight Islamic State on the ground elsewhere in Syria, but rebels say there is much uncertainty surrounding the plans.
end quote from:
Idaho Woman Shot by Son at Walmart Remembered as Scientist, Loving Mom