ISIS militants were on the verge of taking a key Kurdish border town in Syria on Friday — and were just eight miles from the capital of Iraq, by some accounts.
Despite US-led airstrikes that have pummeled ISIS fighters in both countries, the rebels were close to capturing the town of Kobani near the Turkish border and were bearing down on Baghdad.
The siege of Kobani, where 700 mainly elderly citizens are trapped, is raising fears of a slaughter.
"If this falls, the 700, plus perhaps the 12,000 people [in nearby districts] apart from the fighters will be most likely massacred," warned UN envoy Staffan de Mistura.
"Do you remember Srebrenica? We do. We never forgot and probably we never forgave ourselves," he said, in reference to the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where 8,000 Muslims were killed by Serbs in 1995, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. "When there is an imminent threat to civilians, we cannot, we should not, be silent."
Turkey, meanwhile, has done nothing to intervene.
One concession the US won Friday from its NATO partner was an agreement to support, train and equip the moderate opposition in Syria, according to the State Department.
Turkey has the biggest army in the region and has previously claimed it was doing its part by absorbing 1.2 million Syrian refugees, including 200,000 from Kobani.
Meanwhile, ISIS fighters were within eight miles of Baghdad and its international airport, according to both Fox News and CBS News.
Militants have infiltrated Abu Ghraib, the Baghdad suburb where the US military ran an infamous prison during the Iraq War.
Their proximity to the airport has observers worried because they are now armed with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles with a 20-mile range, according to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.
But US officials expressed confidence in the army they trained in Iraq to hold Baghdad — despite its dismal performance elsewhere.
"We don't see an imminent threat to Baghdad at this time," said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
"Iraqi security forces in and around Baghdad are strong. They're under constant assessment. The embassy remains open. We continue to conduct business.
"We've deployed a significant number of our own military personnel to Iraq and to the region for the protection of American personnel and to advise and assist Iraqi forces."
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