EU grants 3.9 million euros in aid to Kobane refugees

BRUSSELS - Agence France-Presse

The European Commission will give 3.9 million euros ($4.9 million dollars) in aid to humanitarian groups helping refugees from the besieged Syrian border town of Kobane, a statement said Oct. 12.

"Over 180,000 Syrians have been displaced to Turkey by the fierce fighting in Kobane. This further adds to the impact of what is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our times," said Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.

The funding, part of a total 150 million euros ($189 million dollars) of European Commission humanitarian aid for Syria in 2014, would help provide water, medicine and shelter to refugees.

Kobane, near the Turkish border, has been the target of fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for the past three weeks, forcing the departure of some 300,000 inhabitants.

ISIL poured in reinforcements Sunday as the Syrian town's Kurdish defenders kept up their high-profile resistance.

The European Union is jointly managing almost three billion euros ($3.79 billion dollars) of aid for the crisis, from the Commission and EU Member States.