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ByJonathanPaye- Layleh The Associated Press MONROVIA, LIBERIA Six U.S. military planes ar- rived in the Ebola hot zone Thursday with more Ma- rines, as West Africa's lead- ers pleaded for the world's help in dealing with "a trag- edy unforeseen in modern times." "Our people are dying," Sierra Leone President Er- nest Bai Koroma lamented by videoconference at a World Bank meeting in Washington. He said other countries are not respond- ing fast enough while chil- dren are orphaned and in- fected doctors and nurses are lost to the disease. Alpha Conde of Guinea said the region's countries are in "a very fragile situ- ation." "This disease is today an international threat and de- serves an international re- sponse," he said, speaking through a translator. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Dis- ease Control and Preven- tion, said he was reminded of the start of the AIDS ep- idemic. "We have to work now so this is not the next AIDS," Frieden said. The fleet that landed outside the Liberian capi- tal of Monrovia consisted of four MV-22 Ospreys and two KC-130s. The 100 addi- tional Marines bring to just over 300 the total number of American troops in the country, said Maj. Gen. Dar- ryl A. Williams, the com- mander leading the U.S. response. Williams joined U.S. Am- bassador to Liberia Debo- rah Malac at the airport to greet the aircraft, which ar- rived in two groups of three. As vehicles unloaded boxes of equipment wrapped in green-and- black cloth, the Marines formed a line on the tar- mac and had their temper- atures checked by Liberian health workers. Meanwhile, British au- thorities said they would in- troduce "enhanced" screen- ing of travelers for Ebola at Heathrow and Gatwick air- ports and Eurostar rail ter- minals. Prime Minister David Cameron's office said pas- sengers arriving from West Africa would be quizzed about their travels and con- tacts. Some people could be given a medical assessment and advice on what to do if they develop symptoms. Also Thursday, Liberian police used batons and rat- tan whips to disperse 100 protesters outside the Na- tional Assembly, where lawmakers were debating granting President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf more pow- ers beyond those contained in a state of emergency de- clared in August. Her han- dling of the crisis has been criticized as heavy handed and ineffective. Liberian state radio an- nounced that Senate elec- tions scheduled for next week would be postponed. No new date was given. The outbreak has killed more than 3,800 people, ac- cording to the latest World Health Organization figures. The vast majority of those deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The U.S. military is work- ing to build medical centers in Liberia and may send up to 4,000 soldiers to help with the Ebola crisis. Medical workers and beds for Ebola patients are sorely lacking. British Defense Secre- tary Michael Fallon said his country would provide more than 750 troops to help build treatment cen- ters and an Ebola "training academy" in Sierra Leone. Army medics and helicop- ters will provide direct sup- port. Britain will also con- tribute an aviation support ship. British troops are ex- pected to arrive next week in Sierra Leone, where they will join military en- gineers and planners who have been there for nearly a month helping to construct medical centers. The German military, which has already been fly- ing material such as protec- tive clothing from Senegal to the worst-hit countries, planned to start a wider de- ployment of aid in mid-No- vember. The military is ex- pected to set up a clinic for 50 patients. Sierra Leone officials fi- nally released a shipping container filled with medi- cal gear and mattresses that had been held up at the port for more than a month. LIBERIA US military planes arrive at epicenter of Ebola KINMANHU—SANANTONIOEXPRESS-NEWS Soldiers from the 36th Engineer Brigade practice how to put on protective clothing and gloves during a training session at Fort Hood, Texas, on Thursday. The brigade is set to deploy to Liberia as part of Operation United Assistance. By Ryan Lucas The Associated Press MURSITPINAR, TURKEY The U.S.-led coalition in- tensified its aerial bom- bardment of Islamic State positions Thursday in the Syrian border town of Kobani as the extremist group fought street bat- tles with Kurdish forces and reportedly rushed in reinforcements. The battle for the town near the frontier with Tur- key has emerged as a ma- jor early test for the air campaign aimed at roll- ing back and eventually destroying the extremist group. It has also strained ties between Washington and NATO-ally Turkey over the long-term U.S. strategy in Syria. Ankara has called for the creation of a buffer zone inside Syria to se- cure the border, but the White House and Penta- gon said Wednesday the U.S. is not considering that option. Such a zone would be costly and complex to enforce. Columns of smoke rose over Kobani as warplanes buzzed overhead Thurs- day. Two strong explosions — apparently from an air- strike — echoed from the edge of the town, a clus- ter of low-slung concrete buildings nestled in roll- ing hills. The U.S. Central Com- mand said five airstrikes south of Kobani since Wednesday had destroyed an Islamic State group support building and two vehicles, and damaged a training camp. The strikes also hit two groups of Is- lamic State fighters, it said in a statement. "Indications are that Kurdish militia there con- tinue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL," it said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group, which con- trols large parts of Syria and Iraq. But the Pentagon has said the town may yet fall to the extremists because air power alone cannot prevent it. Despite the airstrikes overnight and into the morning, the Islamic State fighters managed to cap- ture a police station in the east of Kobani, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said 11 Islamic State fighters were killed, adding that Kurdish fight- ers captured four jihadis. The station was later struck by coalition jets. The Observatory, which relies on activists across Syria, said Kurdish forces had surrounded the jihad- ists near the station and that heavy fighting was underway. The Observatory said the militants had seized more than a third of Ko- bani, but Kurdish officials disputed that, saying their forces had recaptured sev- eral parts of the town. "I can confirm that they don't control a third of the city. There is only a small part of Kobani un- der the control of Daesh," said local Kurdish offi- cial Idriss Nassan, using an Arabic acronym to re- fer to the Islamic State group. Both Nassan and the Observatory said more than 20 airstrikes have been conducted in the area since Wednesday af- ternoon. The fight for Kobani has brought Syria's civil war yet again to Turkey's doorstep, and the U.S. and its allies have pressed An- kara to take a more ro- bust role in the coalition. Kurds have held massive demonstrations across Turkey in which they ac- cuse the government, which has deployed its tanks just across the fron- tier, of doing nothing to save the town. WAR ON TERRORISM Coalition ramps up strikes on Syrian town By Desmond Butler The Associated Press ISTANBUL Turkey is play- ing a risky game of chicken in its negotiations with NATO partners who want it to join combat operations against the Islamic State group — and it's blowing back with violence in Turk- ish cities. As the Islamic militants rampage through Kurd- ish-held Syrian territory on Turkey's border, Turkey says it won't join the fight unless the U.S.-led coalition also goes after the govern- ment of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The tactic has enraged Turkey's own Kurdish pop- ulation, which accuses the Turkish government of standing idly by while their people are being slaugh- tered in the strategic bor- der town of Kobani. Turkey's strategy risks not only alienating its NATO partners, but also torpedoing one of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Er- dogan's signature achieve- ments: once-promising talks to end 30 years of bloody insurgency by the PKK, the Kurdish separatist guerrilla movement fiercely opposed by Ankara. The Islamic State mili- tants' advance on Kobani, even as Turkish forces have dug in within artillery range of the fighting, is al- ready spilling violence into Turkey. Turkish Kurds, who believe their government is at best impeding efforts to defend Kobani are revolting across the country. This week, the out- rage turned volcano-like as Kurds clashed with po- lice and supporters of an Islamist group in cities across Turkey, leaving at least 31 dead and scores in- jured. Among the casual- ities Thursday were three police officers killed in the eastern province of Bin- gol, and a police chief who was hospitalized with life- threatening injuries. Turkish officials re- sponded by imposing cur- fews in predominantly Kurdish regions. Kurdish leaders, including jailed PKK chief Abdullah Oca- lan, have warned that the fall of Kobani will end the peace process. Ocalan has led the peace talks with Turkey from a prison island off Istanbul, where he is serving a life term. Erdogan has offered concessions that would have been unthinkable in recent Turkish history. Turkish officials say this week's clashes are part of a PKK strategy to win more leverage in the negotia- tions. In a mostly concil- iatory statement released Thursday, Erdogan called for restraint and expressed sorrow for the dramatic vi- olence. But he also spoke of "dark circles" provoking conflict for political gain. "It is clear that this game is targeting the peace pro- cess and is intending to sab- otage our ancient brother- hood, peace and tranquil- ity," said Erdogan, who earlier this week reiterated that Turkey views the PKK as equally deplorable as the Islamic State group. Kurds in turn accuse Er- dogan of fueling the al-Qa- ida offshoot's rise as part of an all-out proxy war against Assad. Kobani is being de- fended by Kurdish fighters with ties to the PKK, which is considered a terrorist or- ganization by Turkey, the U.S. and its Western allies. The PKK has fought Turkey for autonomy for Kurds in a conflict that has claimed tens of thou- sands of lives since 1984. Kurds, who make up an es- timated 20 percent of Tur- key's some 75 million peo- ple, have faced decades of discrimination, including restrictions on the use of their language. Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and vis- iting scholar at the Carne- gie Endowment for Interna- tional Peace, says some in the Turkish government see advantages to standing idly by as two of its enemies — the Islamic State militants and the Kurdish guerrillas — battle one another. "The fact that the two are fighting each other is not necessarily a bad out- come for Turkey if you re- ally want to think in pure realistic terms," he said in a conference call with report- ers Thursday. But he noted that oth- ers in the government re- alize that the strategy is harming Turkey's image and creating a dangerous dynamic with its Kurdish population. While the in- action frustrates allies, the renewed scenes of police vi- olence could set back its Eu- ropean Union aspirations. ISLAMIC STATE Turkey's Syria position spurs blowback THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Protesters and students of Middle East Technical University face riot police in Ankara, Turkey, on Thursday protesting against the Islamic State group advance on the town of Kobani, Syria, and against the Turkish government. Select"Subscribe"tabinlowerrightcorner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! This FREE service made possible by the advertisers in TV Select Magazine Kindly patronize and thank them. Click on their ads online to access their websites! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! Just go online to www.ifoldsflip.com/t/5281 (You'll only need to go there one time) N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY • Fully searchable online, zoom in, print out pages and more! • No newspaper online subscription or website access required. • Best of all ... it's ABSOLUTELY FREE! 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