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Activists: Syria Airstrikes Toll Over 500
[Ynet] Out of 553 killed in US-led coalition strikes in Syria, 464 of them Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 krazed killers, 57 Nusra Front gunnies and 32 civilians.

US-led coalition Arclight airstrikes on Syria have killed more than 500 people, mainly Islamic krazed killers, since they began last month, activists said Thursday, as fighting flared in the northern Syrian border town of Kobani.

The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground, said 553 people have been killed since the Arclight airstrikes began on September 23, including 32 civilians. The civilians included six children and five women.

The group said it has documented the deaths of 464 fighters with the Islamic State group, adding that the real number could be much higher. Another 57 fighters with the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front were killed in Arclight airstrikes on the northern province of Aleppo and Idlib, the Observatory said.

"Combined with continued resistance to ISIL on the ground, indications are that these strikes have slowed ISIL advances into the city, killed hundreds of their fighters and destroyed or damaged scores of pieces of ISIL combat equipment and fighting positions," Central Command said.
Many of the Islamic State fighters have been killed in or near Kobani, the target of a massive jihadi offensive since mid-September. IS fighters have captured dozens of surrounding Kurdish villages and forced more than 200,000 people to flee for safety in neighboring Turkey.

Earlier this week, the US Central Command said its forces have conducted more than 135 Arclight airstrikes against Islamic State gunnies in and around Kobani, killing hundreds of fighters.

"Combined with continued resistance to ISIL on the ground, indications are that these strikes have slowed ISIL advances into the city, killed hundreds of their fighters and destroyed or damaged scores of pieces of ISIL combat equipment and fighting positions," Central Command said in a statement.

An News Agency that Dare Not be Named journalist on the Turkish side of the border said heavy machine gun fire could be heard from Kobani, which is also known as Ayn Arab, on Thursday.

"The fighting has been ongoing since last night on the eastern and southern fronts. It is some of the longest festivities in Kobani," said Kurdish activist Farhad Shami by telephone from the town. "The fighting usually only takes place at night."

Shami said the Islamic State group launched an attack from three fronts late Wednesday but failed to advance. Still he said that Kurdish fighters withdrew from the Tel Shair hill that overlooks parts of Kobani.

The Observatory said Islamic State fighters captured the hill, closing in on the town from the west. It said Islamic State fighters are also trying to advance from the eastern side of the town, saying there were casualties on both sides.

The hill was captured by the Kurds from Islamic state fighters earlier this month.

The US-led coalition has aggressively targeted IS-held oil facilities in Syria, which provide a key source of income for the krazed killers.
Idris Nassan, deputy minister for foreign affairs in a Kurdish civil administration controlling Kobani, said that although Islamic State fighters moved onto Tel Shair hill, the heavy fighting there was ongoing.

"Kobani has been witnessing fierce festivities since last night. It was one of the bad nights," Nassan said.

The Observatory meanwhile reported four coalition Arclight airstrikes on oil wells in the Jafra field in the eastern Syrian province of Deir el-Zour late Wednesday. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, also reported the Arclight airstrikes in areas held by the Islamic State group.

The US-led coalition has aggressively targeted IS-held oil facilities in Syria, which provide a key source of income for the krazed killers. But such strikes also endanger civilians, which could undermine long-term efforts to destroy the krazed killer group.

The attacks on the oil industry, including refineries, have also led to a sharp rise in the price of oil products in rebel-held areas of Syria.
The Times of Israel adds:
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that the "vast majority" of jihadists killed in the strikes were not Syrians but imported muscle who had joined IS and Nusra in the country.
Posted by: trailing wife 2014-10-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=402657