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US airstrikes near Syrian Kurdish town

September 28, 2014

US Central Command has released footage of airstrikes against suspected "Islamic State" targets near the border town of Ayn al-Arab, more commonly called Kobane or Kobani by Kurdish locals, in Syria.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DMBO
U.S Air Force Luftschläge Syrien gegen Islamischer Staat Flugplatz 23.09.2014
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/U.S. Air Force

The Pentagon said late on Saturday that seven targets were hit in Syria, including a strike at the besieged border town of Ayn al-Arab controlled by Kurdish forces. The broadened US strikes against targets tied to the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) terror militia in Syria coincided with the first British combat flights over neighboring Iraq.

Ayn al-Arab, better known locally as Kobane or Kobani, has been besieged by "IS" fighters for several days. The US Central Command, which coordinates forces in the Middle East, released short video footage of one of the strikes on Twitter.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said that IS rockets on Saturday hit the town for the first time since the jihadist assault began on September 16, wounding 12 people. The majority-Kurdish town is close to Syria's Turkish border.

The US Department of Defense said that Saturday's strikes were part of the continuing efforts to "degrade and destroy" IS, with help on the ground from moderate rebel fighters in Syria.

UK jets hold fire

British Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 jets flew from Cyprus to Iraq for the first time on Saturday, but returned to base without dropping their laser-guided bombs.

"On this occasion no targets were identified as requiring immediate air attack by our aircraft," said a spokesman for the defense ministry in London. Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark have also agreed to conduct airstrikes against IS in Iraq, but not Syria. Some Arab countries have joined the aerial campaign in Syrian airspace.

Zypern RAF Tornado GR4 Luftschläge gegen IS in Irak 26.09.2014
RAF Tornados entered the fray over Iraq at the weekendImage: Reuters/Cpl Neil Bryden/Ministry of Defence

According to a report in the Hurriyet daily newspaper, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Ankara might take a military role in the coalition against IS. He said the government would put a motion to parliament on October 2, after which "all the necessary steps" would be taken.

Turkey, a NATO member, had previously said that its hands were tied on acting against the Islamic State, pointing to dozens of Turkish hostages held by IS. Those captives have since been freed. Some Kurdish authorities in both Iraq and Syria, however, have questioned Turkey's resolve to help considering its own uneasy relationship with its Kurdish population.

Domestic media in Turkey reported that at least four mortar shells from fighting in northern Syria landed on Turkish territory on Saturday, injuring two people.

msh/jm (AFP, dpa, Reuters)