The air strikes against the IS clearly show effect: The U.S. Army has killed in the attacks around Kobane claims to several hundred jihadists. Nevertheless, the Pentagon fears that the city falls.

The U.S. government is boasting about successes in the fight against the terrorist organization “Islamic State”. According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby “several hundred” jihadists have been killed in the air raids on the area around Kobane.

The city on the Syrian-Turkish border is hotly debated for weeks. The IS-militia has captured area on the outskirts of Kobane, the center and the west of the city but still being held by the Kurdish people’s defense units (YPG). The defenders of Kobane get air support. According to the Pentagon, the US-led coalition has flown in the past few days about 40 attacks on the IS in the field. This allowed the Kurdish fighters first successful recapture of the city and its environs.

The air attacks have significantly restricted the mobility of the jihadists in Kobane Kirby said in Washington. Furthermore, it was more difficult for the IS to bring supplies to the front. Nevertheless, the Pentagon has dampened hopes for a quick turnaround in the fight against the jihadists. “The situation is in flux,” said the spokesman for the Department of Defense. It still is a risk that the extremists conquer the city yet. So addition could be expected that the IS-fighter other cities, villages and regions would occupy.

In Iraq, the jihadists move further in front. The coordinator of the US-led coalition, retired General John Allen, spoke of a “significant territorial gains” of the IS. The militias of the self-styled “Caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had taken in the past few days several places in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. Thus they now control almost the entire area between Baghdad and the Syrian-Iraqi border. Kirby said the Pentagon’s view, at least the security of the Iraqi capital was “currently not in immediate danger.”

Air attacks on Kobane:USA expect setbacks in the fight against IS

Kirby put the USA on a one long struggle against the jihadists. “We have some success. We know that we are making progress., But it will take a long time,” said the Pentagon spokesman. “There will be days and moments in which we will experience setbacks.” After all, the U.S. government has now found a name for the military operation against IS:

“Inherent Resolve”. Translated that means as much as “natural determination”.
According to the U.S. military currently hold a few hundred civilians in Kobane. The YPG-fighters in the city, which is called in Arabic Ain al-Arab, speak of 2000 inhabitants, which still endure in the border town. Before the war the town had about 50,000 inhabitants.

According to information from the Kurdish units have now posted “on almost every roof” in the areas they controlled sniper to stop the advance of the IS.

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