Pentagon:

Kurds take control of most of Kobani

Kurdish fighters are resisting against Takfiri ISIL militants and have managed to take control of most of the Syrian border city of Kobani, US military sources say.

News ID: 60481

Date: 09 October 2014 - 11:00

"[The] US Central Command continues to monitor the situation in Kobani closely," said a statement from the Pentagon on Wednesday, adding, "Indications are that Kurdish militia there continue to control most of the city and are holding out against ISIL."

Reports also said that the Kurdish fighters, who know the battlefield in the area much better than the Takfiris, have driven the militants out of several areas in the southern part of the strategic town.

In a separate development regarding the Syrian flashpoint town on Wednesday, US and Jordanian aircraft conducted additional airstrikes against the ISIL militants.

The US Central Command said that the air attacks on Wednesday caused heavy damage to the Takfiri group. It added that the destruction of five armed vehicles, a supply depot, a command-and-control compound, a logistics compound and eight occupied barracks were among major achievements of the air assaults.

The Pentagon also admitted that the air raids alone are not enough to prevent the fall of the strategic city to the ISIL militants.

The US-led airstrikes “are not going to save" the strategic Syrian city, said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

"We are doing everything we can to halt" the ISIL terrorists’ advances, the US official said, confirming that the air attack alone cannot curb the militants’ progress.

State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki, however, told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that saving the town, also known as Ain al-Arab, is not a US priority.

Kurdish officials say airstrikes carried out by the US-led coalition against ISIL positions in Syria are not working.

Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with ISIL militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.

The weeks-long intense battle for the strategic town has forced nearly 200,000 people to take refuge in Turkey.

Source: PressTV