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                         Shelling Resumes Around Kobani

   by VOA News

   U.S. officials say coalition jets made eight airstrikes on Islamic
   State targets in Syria overnight, six in Kobani, as fighting continued
   for control of the key border city of Kobani.

   Kurdish doctors in the city say at least four people have been wounded.

   Sunday morning saw a brief lull in the militants' shelling of the city,
   but VOA correspondent Scott Bobb, reporting from the Turkish side of
   the border, says that by early afternoon mortar and artillery fire was
   picking up, with some shells landing in the western part of Kobani and
   some near the border crossing with Turkey.

   Kurdish sources told Bobb the situation in Kobani has improved
   somewhat, adding that they have been able to regain control of some
   surrounding villages.

   The tempo of U.S.-led airstrikes has increased dramatically, with U.S.
   fighter craft on Friday launching six airstrikes on militants'
   positions near the Syrian border enclave, the U.S. military said. A top
   Kobani city official tells the Associated Press that coalition
   airstrikes have slowed down Islamic State, but says air power is not
   enough. He says Kurdish fighters need more weapons and ammunition.

   Additional Islamic State targets were hit in the same area on Wednesday
   and Thursday after U.S. fighter and bomber planes carried out 14 raids
   against the militant group.

   The militants have intensified their shelling of Kobani, and several
   rounds dropped across the border inside Turkey.

   Strategic point

   Turkish and U.S. officials said last week that Islamic State fighters
   were on the verge of taking Kobani from its heavily outgunned Kurdish
   defenders, after seizing strategic points deep inside the town.

   The four-week Islamic State assault has been seen as a test of U.S.
   President Barack Obama's airstrike strategy, and Kurdish leaders said
   the town cannot survive without arms and ammunition reaching the
   defenders, something neighboring Turkey has so far refused to allow.

   The Islamic State group has been keen to take the town to consolidate
   its position in northern Syria after seizing large amounts of territory
   in the country and in Iraq.

   A defeat of Islamic State militants in Kobani would be a major setback
   for the Islamists and a boost for the U.S.-led, anti-IS coalition.

   The coalition has been bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq since
   August and extended the campaign to Syria in September.

   The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a
   network of sources on the ground, says Islamic State set off two
   booby-trapped vehicles in Kobani. It did not give any casualty figures.

   The observatory also says coalition airstrikes on two oil facilities
   have killed seven civilians in eastern Syria. The U.S. often targets
   gas facilities in militant-controlled areas to cut off a supply of
   revenue. The U.S. has not commented on the reported civilian deaths.

   Iraq strikes; memorials

   Meanwhile, Iraqi state television reports that Iraqi airstrikes have
   killed 60 Islamic State fighters in Al-Anbar province.

   Also Saturday, the family of British aid worker David Haines, who was
   beheaded by Islamic State last month, held a memorial service in
   Scotland. Mourners also honored another aid worker kidnapped and
   murdered by the militants, Alan Henning.

   Islamic State had also beheaded two U.S. journalists -- James Foley and
   Steven Sotloff. The militants say they killed the four Westerners to
   avenge U.S.-led airstrikes. But many leading Muslim officials condemned
   militants, calling the murders un-Islamic.

   Portions of this report come from Reuters.
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   -is-advance-in-kobani/2488044.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ramped-up-us-led-airstrikes-stall-is-advance-in-kobani/2488044.html