Kurdish fighters in the Syrian town of Kobani have pushed back ISIS militants in a number of locations as U.S. airstrikes on ISIS positions continue in and around the city.
U.S. airstrikes have been hitting ISIS targets near Kobani for
the last few days helping Kurdish fighters on the ground push back ISIS
militants in the Syrian town, according to sources there.
U.S. fighter jets conducted at least 14 strikes near Kobani
Wednesday and Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command.
Initial reports show the strikes hit 19 ISIS buildings and 10
other ISIS targets, including command posts, sniper positions and a staging
location, the U.S. military said.
The battle for Kobani, which is not far from the Turkish border,
has become a street fight over control of hills and neighborhoods witnessed by
TV cameras pointed there from Turkey.
One Kurdish fighter told CNN Thursday that ISIS has been forced
from many parts of the city, but still controls some key buildings including
the hospital and the important Asayish building in the middle of Kobani, which
served as headquarters for the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG.advance brings fear to Baghdad
Kurdish forces do have control of the southwest entrance of the
city and have taken some buildings back from ISIS fighters in one neighborhood,
next to the heavily contested eastern industrial area of the city.
The airstrikes over the past few days have helped Kurdish YPG
fighters turn into an offensive rather than a defensive force, according to one
activist.
But, he adds, "there is still street fighting in the east and
in the south" of Kobani.
ISIS pushing ahead in Iraq
ISIS militants have tightened their grip over an area about 15
miles south of Fallujah, an Anbar province official said Thursday.
ISIS has brought many of its fighters, armed with heavy weaponry
and machinery, in order to attack and control the town of Amiryat al-Falluja,
the head of the town's council, Shaker Mahmoud, said Thusday.
Mahmoud urged the Iraqi government to send military reinforcements
to support the security forces inside the town.
ISIS fighters also continue to surround a major airbase in the
Iraq's Anbar province and U.S. officials say they're continuing airstrikes
there to help Iraqi forces.
"In Anbar province our hope is to stop or halt that tactical
initiative and momentum that they (ISIS) have," Gen. John Allen, the
special presidential envoy on ISIS, said Wednesday. It is clear that ISIS
"has made substantial gains in Iraq," he said.
ISIS car bomb in Baghdad
At least five people were killed and 15 were injured when two car
bombs exploded in the al-Hurriya Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad Thursday,
according to police. At least two people died when another car bomb exploded at
a security checkpoint near al-Talbiya Bridge in eastern Baghdad.
ISIS released a statement claiming responsibility for the
bombings.