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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US: Coalition airstrikes killed several hundred of ISIL militants in Syria
2014-10-16
[Iran Press TV] The Pentagon has said ISIL still stands the chance of seizing the Syrian town of Kobani despite US-led Arclight airstrikes that have resulted in the deaths of "several hundred" ISIL terrorists.

"We believe that we have killed several hundred ISIL fighters in and around Kobani," Pentagon front man Rear Adm. John Kirby told news hounds in Washington on Wednesday.

Kirby also said that most of the people living in Kobani have fled the town with the ISIL snuffies trying to seize the control of the mainly Kurdish town.

Despite the intensified US air raids, Kirby said that the city "could still fall, it could very well still fall", calling it a "setback".

The United States and its allies carried out nearly two dozen Arclight airstrikes against ISIL gunnies around Kobani on Monday and Tuesday.

The Pentagon front man added that the ISIL group has explicitly indicated that they want to occupy Kobani hence increasingly sending fighters to the town.

However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
 he noted that US operation in this strategic town is much more extensive, saying as the chances are that other towns and villages "will either fall to ISIL or we may not be able to dislodge them for quite some time."

His remarks came as White House front man Josh Earnest said that early evidence showed the US-led air campaign against ISIL was succeeding.

"No one has thought that these Arclight airstrikes would dramatically lead to victories overnight," Earnest said on Tuesday. "They would be more effective if there was a ground force to take the fight to ISIL and that force doesn't yet exist."
Posted by:Fred

#17  Amazing what happens when you actually give proper support. I suppose Obama must have been scared into letting the proper military gear/people help due to political legacy considerations. Either way I'm extremely pleased the Kurds are no longer being hanged out to dry by us in Kobani.
Posted by: Charles   2014-10-16 20:42  

#16  Kurdish translator is physically in the Joint Operations Command Center taking coordinates from Kobane YPG representative who gets that information from special units in Kobane used strictly for the purpose of identifying targets. Coordinates are then forwarded to aircraft for air strikes.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664   2014-10-16 16:40  

#15  Do the math. No fly zone, close to 10 years protecting Kurds after Desert Storm. OIF, Turks screwed us, but someone on the ground arranged for the 173 r&d to have favorable Drop Zone. A decade of training and supporting the regional parts of the "Iraqi army" in Kurdish Iraq. Lots of Intel developement throughout the region, with very supportive and friendly population in the Kurds.

Is it hard to imagine that there would be no trouble locating well trained resources the Syrian Kurds would trust from just across the border in Iraq? And just happen to know how to direct US airstrikes after close to 2 decades working with US operatives... Probably trained in the U.S. Gear available by coincidence...

The only thing I'm wondering is what took them so long.
Posted by: OldSpook   2014-10-16 16:38  

#14  The Fisticuff Kurds of Kobane.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2014-10-16 16:25  

#13  Kurds report now have 90% control of Kobane. Assaulting ISIS positions on meshte nur hill outside of Kobane.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664   2014-10-16 16:24  

#12  YPJ Fighters in Kobane. Beauty vs beasts.

Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664   2014-10-16 16:16  

#11  Kobane Kurdish defenders appear to have gotten ground control down very well. They directed precision strikes against 3 different ISIS sniper positions today.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664   2014-10-16 16:11  

#10  Several hundred eh? Never saw the comment "several hundred" in any BDA from previous conflicts, but things do change.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-10-16 15:47  

#9  Several hundred?? They just got a 10,000 man reinforcement last week. Pissing on a forest fire we are, we are!
Posted by: 49 Pan   2014-10-16 15:02  

#8  29,500 to go.
Posted by: KBK   2014-10-16 12:50  

#7  I hope the IS becomes the WAS soon, but I'm not optimistic.
Posted by: Korora   2014-10-16 12:36  

#6  Wonder how many of us 'burgers remember those "counts" by the whiz kids.....brings back a lot of lousy memories.
Posted by: AlanC   2014-10-16 12:29  

#5  Bush DOD always brushed off questions about enemy KIA, because it did harken back to the "5 O'clock Follies".
Posted by: Shipman   2014-10-16 08:39  

#4  ...also a micro-managed war from the White House.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-10-16 08:36  

#3  It's not that obscure to some of us of a certain age, Bobby.

If you would have added up all the 'body-counts' published back then, it probably totaled around a million.

Reality was significantly less.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2014-10-16 08:19  

#2  Several hundred? Who's counting, Robert McNamara?

[obscure reference to Vietnam-era over-counting]
Posted by: Bobby   2014-10-16 07:53  

#1  His remarks came as White House front man Josh Earnest said that early evidence showed the US-led air campaign against ISIL was succeeding.

Only where there are EFFECTIVE boots on the ground.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664   2014-10-16 00:08  

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