Agency :
The United States launched nine air strikes on Thursday on Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants advancing in the northern Syrian town of Kobane, US Central Command said.
Six airstrikes south of Kobane struck a large ISIS unit and two small ones, and destroyed two buildings held by the
militants along with a tank and heavy machine gun, the Central Command statement said.
Three airstrikes north of Kobane struck two small ISIS units and destroyed two buildings held by the militants, the statement added.
ISIS was in control of more than a third of the Syrian border town , Agence France-Presse reported a monitoring group as saying on Thursday, after three weeks of fighting Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes.
“ISIS control more than a third of Kobane. All eastern areas, a small part of the north east and an area in the south east,” head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman, said by telephone.
While the US and coalition airstrikes have forced some ISIS militants out of Kobane, air power is not enough to save the city, a Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday.
“Kobane could be taken. We recognize that,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters.
“We’re doing everything we can from the air to try to halt the momentum of ISIS against that town,” he added. “Air power is not going to be alone enough to save that city.”
Turkey maintains it does not want Kobane to fall, but Turkish officials said they will not enter combat until they are assured that the US-led coalition has a long-term strategy in Syria.
Turkey on Thursday also said it cannot be expected to lead a ground operation against jihadists in Syria alone, amid growing pressure on Ankara from the West to intervene militarily.
The United States launched nine air strikes on Thursday on Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants advancing in the northern Syrian town of Kobane, US Central Command said.
Six airstrikes south of Kobane struck a large ISIS unit and two small ones, and destroyed two buildings held by the
militants along with a tank and heavy machine gun, the Central Command statement said.
Three airstrikes north of Kobane struck two small ISIS units and destroyed two buildings held by the militants, the statement added.
ISIS was in control of more than a third of the Syrian border town , Agence France-Presse reported a monitoring group as saying on Thursday, after three weeks of fighting Kurdish forces backed by US-led air strikes.
“ISIS control more than a third of Kobane. All eastern areas, a small part of the north east and an area in the south east,” head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdulrahman, said by telephone.
While the US and coalition airstrikes have forced some ISIS militants out of Kobane, air power is not enough to save the city, a Pentagon spokesman said on Wednesday.
“Kobane could be taken. We recognize that,” Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters.
“We’re doing everything we can from the air to try to halt the momentum of ISIS against that town,” he added. “Air power is not going to be alone enough to save that city.”
Turkey maintains it does not want Kobane to fall, but Turkish officials said they will not enter combat until they are assured that the US-led coalition has a long-term strategy in Syria.
Turkey on Thursday also said it cannot be expected to lead a ground operation against jihadists in Syria alone, amid growing pressure on Ankara from the West to intervene militarily.
