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                US-led Airstrikes Pummel IS Targets Near Kobani

   by Reuters

   Large plumes of smoke rose in the air in the border region around
   Kobani on Thursday as a U.S.-led coalition launched more airstrikes
   against Islamic State targets.

   Loud explosions were heard on the Turkish border with Syria as clouds
   of smoke filled the sky over the embattled town following a morning of
   relative calm.

   Also Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the U.S.-led air war
   against Islamic State militants will intensify in the future as Iraqi
   ground forces improve and become more effective.

   Defending the U.S. strategy during a House of Representatives hearing,
   Hagel said, "As Iraqi forces build strength, the tempo and intensity of
   our coalition's air campaign will accelerate in tandem."

   U.S.-led forces conducted 16 airstrikes in Syria, most of them around
   the strategic town near the Turkish border, and seven in the
   oil-producing northern region of Iraq since Monday, the U.S. Central
   Command said.

   Ten airstrikes conducted by the United States and its allies near
   Kobani hit eight small Islamic State units, damaged three fighting
   positions and destroyed a logistics facility, Centcom said Wednesday in
   a statement.

   Kobani has been encircled by the Sunni Muslim insurgents for more than
   50 days.

   Weeks of U.S.-led airstrikes have failed to break their stranglehold,
   and Kurds are hoping the arrival of the peshmerga, welcomed by
   Washington, will turn the tide.

   The battle for Kobani, also known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab, has become
   a test of the U.S.-led coalition's ability to stop Islamic State's
   advance.
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   ear-kobani/2518819.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-led-airstrikes-pummel-is-targets-near-kobani/2518819.html