US-led airstrikes in Kobani wiped out hundreds of Islamic State militants: Pentagon

"One of the reasons why you're seeing more strikes there is because there is more ISIL there," said Pentagon spokesperson.

FILE- In this Sept. 23, 2014 file image provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) launches a Tomahawk cruise missile as seen from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. (Source: AP)

A barrage of US-led airstrikes in and around the Syrian city of Kobani, including 39 over the past two days, has killed hundreds of Islamic State fighters and has stiffened the city’s Kurdish defenders, the Pentagon’s spokesman said. Offering an unusually detailed description of the fighting, Rear Adm John Kirby told reporters that all but “hundreds” of civilians have evacuated the city and that increasing numbers of Islamic State group fighters are flowing in.

“One of the reasons why you’re seeing more strikes there is because there is more ISIL there,” Kirby said, using a common acronym for the extremist group. Their greater numbers are providing more targets for US bombs, he said yesterday. “It’s hard to give an exact number, but we believe that we have killed several hundred ISIL fighters,” he added.

Turkish forces fire tear gas to disperse Kurds on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State, in Kobani, Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. (Source: AP)

He did not specify a time period; airstrikes there began Oct 1, according to US Central Command, which announced Wednesday that it had launched 18 airstrikes near Kobani over the previous 24 hours, following a barrage of 21 strikes there the previous 24 hours.

Story continues below this ad

READ: Iran calls for ‘confidence’ over nukes, extremists Islamic State group

Kirby said Kobani remains in danger of falling to the Islamic State fighters, who are intently focused on the city. “These guys want to grab ground. They want territory,” he said. “Kobani is a territory they want.”

Central Command said the latest airstrikes by American bombers and fighter jets destroyed multiple Islamic State fighting positions in the Kobani area. It said the strikes also hit 16 buildings there occupied by the militants.

John Allen, the retired Marine general who is President Barack Obama’s coordinator of the coalition campaign against the Islamic State group, described the intensification of US airstrikes in Kobani as a humanitarian move. “There was a need for additional fire support to go in to try to relieve the defenders” and to buy time and space for them to get better organized, Allen said.

Story continues below this ad

Smoke rises after an airstrike in Kobani, Syria as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Islamic State group, as seen from Mursitpinar in the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014. (Source: AP)

READ: 6 top Pak Taliban commanders announce allegiance to ISIS

Activists and officials in the region said the airstrikes, which have been joined in some cases by coalition partners including Saudi Arabia, have bolstered the Kurdish militiamen fighting pitched battles in the city and making small advances.

Kirby said the combined effects of US and coalition airstrikes in Kobani and other areas in Syria over the past three weeks have taken a toll on the Islamic State militants.

But he added that no one should expect decisive results there or elsewhere in Syria anytime soon.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram