It is early morning. Shadows slant in from the east. Militants on patrol wear thick coats.
Even John Cantlie, the hostage-reporter, is wearing a sweater under his black shirt.
In the latest piece of agitprop from the studios of Islamic State Mr Cantlie, 42, is reporting under duress from the front line in Kobani.
If he was casting a wary eye to the skies to look for incoming allied air strikes, it's not in the seventh of his videos.
His "report" is intended to dispel claims that a combination of allied airstrikes and Kurdish militia have driven IS from the town that sits on the border with Turkey.
In it, he says: "Despite continual American airstrikes which so far have cost nearly half a billion dollars the mujahedeen have pushed deep into the heart of the city, they now control the eastern and southern sectors."
Mr Cantlie's previous internet broadcasts have been from an echoing room with him reading from a prepared script and wearing the orange prison suit now familiar from the beheading videos of his fellow captors.
He has been held by Islamic State for the longest.
His last lecture, before the Kobani report, focussed on how European countries had succeeded at negotiating the release of their hostages while the US and UK had "abandoned" their citizens.
The Kobani report from Mr Cantlie is peppered with contemporary references from the media to prove that it has been recently filmed.
But it is revealing for what is not in it.
There are no interviews with anyone on the street. Indeed, Mr Cantlie is moved between several locations but we do not see these moves.
His is the only voice in the report, which also appears to have been heavily pre-scripted.
He says: "It's going to be difficult with just airpower to prevent the Islamic State from taking the town."
He, or rather Islamic State, is right in this assertion. But why make it?
It's a taunt. Consistent with previous goads scripted for Mr Cantlie, aimed at drawing western troops back into a Middle East maelstrom from which, like the invasion of Iraq, they would emerge with no credit but a huge expenditure on blood and treasure.
Kobani doesn't matter to Islamic State. The US-led coalition has also said the whole of Syria is a lower military priority than first securing the government in Iraq from IS attack.
The Americans have said that they want to concentrate on breaking up IS logistics chains that supply forces in Iraq - like Syrian refineries and Syrian roads in IS controlled areas.
But the focus of the media on the Kurdish fight to save their city has forced the Pentagon to make a tactical switch to airstrikes in and around Kobani.
This suits Islamic State as it draws its enemies' assets away from attacking it in more important strategic locations - and buys it time to get essential equipment hidden from the eyes in the skies.
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Gallery: US-Led Airstrikes on Kobani
Smoke and flames rise over a hill near the Syrian town of Kobani after an airstrike, as seen from the Mursitpinar crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in Sanliurfa province
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US military forces again focused airstrikes on the area near the Syrian city in their campaign to turn back Islamic State forces and also hit oil facilities held by the militant group
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Three IS fighters pray as others inspect a hill in the outskirts of Kobani
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A Kurdish fighters position in the outskirts of the Syrian town
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Members of media watch Kobani from a hill near the Mursitpinar border crossing
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Syrians wait to cross to the northern Syrian city of Tal Abyad at the Akcakale border gate in Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey
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Kurdish refugee children from Kobani in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc
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A Turkish army tank drives downhill, in front of ruins of Kobani
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A Turkish flag flutters on the top of a silo in the Syrian town
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Turkish Kurds watch Kobani from a hill near the Mursitpinar border crossing
This is why the Cantlie report on Kobani matters.
By insisting that the IS is poised to capture the city the terror group is maintaining the need to keep a focus on a location that sucks resources from allied air power that could be focussed elsewhere.
For Mr Cantlie it's an opportunity to get some sunlight and fresh air - albeit on the front line of somebody else's war.
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