Kurdish fighters 'hold out' in Kobani
October 9, 2014
The US military said on Wednesday night local time that it and partner nations had carried out eight air strikes near the town of Kobani, where Kurdish fighters were said to remain largely in control for the time being.
"US Central Command continues to monitor the situation in Kobani closely," said a statement from the Pentagon. "Indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL," the Pentagon statement said, using an alternative acronym for "Islamic State" (IS).
Central Command added that the strikes destroyed numerous IS targets, including five armed vehicles, a supply depot, a command-and-control compound, a logistics compound and eight occupied barracks. Jordan was also involved.
Another air raid southwest of the jihadists' base city of Raqqa destroyed four armed vehicles and damaged two more, the Pentagon said.
The US military also said it had launched three strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.
'More than air power needed'
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters earlier on Wednesday that air power alone could not save 'We are being attacked from two sides,' says Kurd in KobaniKobani, which IS has been attacking from the east and west#.
"We all need to prepare ourselves for the reality that other towns and villages - and perhaps Kobani - will be taken," said Kirby.
Kirby said the group could only be decisively defeated by "capable" local forces - moderate rebel fighters in Syria and Iraqi government troops and Kurdish forces.
"We don't have a force inside Syria that we can cooperate with and work with. That is why the administration is planning to train and arm 5,000 moderate opposition Syrian fighters at sites elsewhere in the Middle East and then insert them back into Syria to take on Islamic State forces."
However, US Secretary of State John Kerry indicated on Wednesday that saving the besieged town of Kobani from IS was not a major military objective for Washington, claiming the loss of the town would not represent a strategic defeat.
rc/jm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)