The Islamic State is sending massive reinforcements to the Kurdish enclave Kobani, a town at the border of Syria and Turkey. Their main goal is to seize the town, and deal significant setback to the US-led air strikes, according to US officials cited by The New York Times. The rush of heavily armed ISIS forces to Kobani has provided the US forces with plenty of targets – tanks, armed vehicles and artillery – while in other parts of Syria the ISIS forces have dispersed, making them harder to target, Pentagon officials say.
Although the airstrikes applied to the surroundings of the border town Kobani might have affected the Islamic State forces in a certain measure, US officials have reported the invading forces to have successfully seized about one quarter of the town amid heavy fights against its Kurdish defenders. The Islamic State is said to be bent on occupying the town, especially for its propaganda value.
As the fighting intensifies, Turkish forces on the other side of the border have are still in place, but do not interfere. Although there is a growing pressure on the Turkish government to intervene and stop the possible massacre of the remaining civilians in the town, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan remains consistent on its anti-Al-Assad policy, insisting that Turkish forces will only join the coalition against the IS if it targets both the Islamic State and the regime of the current Syrian president. After two days of meetings, the US envoy coordinating the coalition against IS, General John R. Allen, could not determine the Turkish government to change its mind.
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Despite the repeated airstrikes against it, the Islamic State continues to gain ground both in Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon announced a meeting with military leaders from over 20 countries involved in the fight against the Islamic State, to take place outside Washington. In the meantime the Islamic State forces keep fighting strong to occupy the border town of Kobani, with the defenders of the town being more and more overwhelmed.