Air raids will help ground forces fight Islamic State, says Pentagon

Washington: Kurdish forces are in control of the majority of the Syrian city of Kobane despite efforts by the Islamic State (IS) to take the town, a spokesperson for US defence department said Tuesday.

Coalition airstrikes in and around the city on Syria’s border with Turkey have been augmented by an airdrop of arms to Kurdish forces fighting the terror group, Xinhua quoted John Kirby, press secretary of US Department of Defence (DOD), as saying.

Air Force planes dropped 27 of 28 pallets to Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Kobani, Kirby said at a DOD news conference.

“ISIL forces continue to threaten (Kobane),” Kirby said. “We’re continuing to hit targets in and around there to help the Kurdish forces as they continue to fight against ISIL. So it’s still a very mixed, contested environment.”

IS is presenting more targets to coalition aircraft and to Iraqi forces, Kirby said. Coalition forces launched seven airstrikes Monday, Kirby said, adding that he expects more attacks on the terror group in the coming days.

“The weather in the region is improving,” he said, explaining that with better weather, “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms are able to fly a little bit more now”.

IANS