Blast: A US-led airstrike on a Syrian gas facility in Kobane killed at least eight people this afternoon. It had been held by militants from the Islamic State terror group, who expert Justin Bronk believes has made fatal errors in its attempt to capture the city
미국이 이슬람 수니파 반군 IS 요원 수백 명을 사살했다고 밝혔다.
미국 국방부는 지난 15일 "시리아의 코바니를 공습해 IS 요원 수백 명을 사살한 것으로 파악했다"고 전했다. 이에 따르면 미국은 이틀 동안 코바니를 18차례 공습해 16개 주요 기지 및 시설물을 타격했다. 코바니는 터키와 인접해 있어 전략적 요충지로 알려졌다.
하지만 공습에도 불구하고 IS는 코바니 함락을 위해 진격하고 있다. 미국 국방부는 "IS가 코바니를 점령하기 위해 몰려들고 있다. 코바니 지역이 함락될 우려가 있다"며 "코바니를 IS에 내줄 경우 실패했다는 데 의심이 없게 된다"고 전했다.
미국 IS 요원 수백 명 사살 소식을 접한 네티즌은 "미국 IS 요원 수백 명 사살, 지상군은 왜 투입 안하지?", 미국 IS 요원 수백 명 사살, 민간인은 안 다쳤나요?", "미국 IS 요원 수백 명 사살, 수만 명 중 수백 명 사살" 등 다양한 반응을 보이고 있다 OSEN, JTBC
Has Kobane become vortex of death for ISIS?
As U.S. jets obliterate fanatics from the air and Kurds suck them into street 'meat grinder', experts believe jihadists have finally made strategic miscalculation
Islamic State militants may live to regret encouraging street battles with outgunned Kurdish forces inside Kobane
Barbaric terror group's tried and tested 'pincer movement' has previously forced enemies to retreat or even defect
Previously used to seize vast swathes of territory in north Syria and west Iraq, where security forces melted away
But Kobane is surrounded by desert, with Turkish border only 200 yards to the north, so Kurdish troops cannot flee
Now Kurdish troops are engaging terrorists in street-to-street battles - a tactic that doesn't play to ISIS' strenghs
By John Hall for MailOnline and Jenny Awford for MailOnline
Islamic State militants have made fatal strategic mistakes in Kobane, allowing American and Arab warplanes to obliterate them from the air and Kurdish forces to suck them into unfamiliar 'meat grinder' street battles, an expert has claimed.
During the four-week battle for Kobane, ISIS has used the same tried and tested 'pincer movement' it deployed during the rapid seizure of vast swathes of northern Syria and western Iraq earlier this year.
In the majority of those lightning advances, ISIS was able to capture towns and cities with little to no resistance - as the group's reputation for torture and brutal murder ensured local security forces either defected or abandoned their posts, rather than face certain slaughter at the hands of the fanatics.
But as Kobane is located less than 200 yards south of the Turkish border fences and is surrounded largely by desert, the massively outgunned Kurdish fighters there have had nowhere to flee, encouraging them to gather in the centre of town and defend the city in furious street-to-street battles.
This is a tactic that does not play to ISIS' considerable armament strengths and leaves the militants out in the open for lengthy periods, where American and Arab warplanes can easily pick the fighters off.
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Flames of war: An American airstrike destroys an Islamic State target inside Kobane, sending a massive column of fire into the air
Syrian Kurdish refugees in Turkey watch as American and Arab warplanes carry out airstrikes on their hometown Kobane this evening
Haze: Heat generated by a massive explosion inside Kobane at sunset this evening creates an orange glow over an ISIS-held building
Fire: Flames rise over an ISIS-held building inside Kobane following American and Arab airstrike this evening
The claim that ISIS may have made serious tactical errors in Kobane came from Justin Bronk, a research analyst in the military sciences program at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
Kobane is a 'very unusual operation' for ISIS as the pitched battles they forced by giving the Kurdish troops nowhere to run have left them particularly vulnerable to airstrikes, he wrote in an opinion article for CNN.
'Despite having surrounded Kobane and conducting aggressive and apparently well-coordinated infiltration attempts from multiple approaches, the sort of street-to-street 'meat grinder' that Kobane has become does not play to ISIS's strengths,' he said.
'Against an enemy with nowhere to retreat to and air support, a numerically limited force such as ISIS that normally relies as much on psychological effects as firepower to take ground faces a tough challenge,' he added.
'This is just as well since on the ground, it is only the bravery of lightly armed Kurdish fighters standing between ISIS and control of the town. Airstrikes are essential but could not keep ISIS out of the town alone,' he went on to say.
By night and day: American and Arab airstrikes against ISIS targets have been relentless for the past week, killing scores of militants
As the sun set in Kobane this evening, American and Arab warplanes carried out a number of bombing raids on ISIS militants
Destoryed: Thick smoke and debris rise from an airstrike by the US-led coalition on an ISIS-held building inside Kobane
Thick smoke rises over an ISIS held building in Kobane this evening following airstrikes by American and Arab warplanes
Earlier a US-led airstrike in Kobane killed at least eight suspected terrorists and set off a series of secondary explosions, analysts revealed.
The coalition bombers targeted a gas facility in the besieged city of Kobane on Friday, within the oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour, activist collective Deir el-Zour Free Radio said.
It is believed that the slain men were mostly fuel tanker drivers working for ISIS, with at least four of their charred bodies placed in a nearby mosque.
Another activist group, the Deir el-Zour Network, described 'long tongues of flames' from the strike.
ISIS' oil facilities in Syria have been aggressively targeted by coalition airstrikes, as they provide a key source of income for the militants. But such strikes also endanger civilians, which could undermine long-term efforts to destroy the group.
Other airstrikes late on Friday targeted oil wells in the Deir el-Zour province, the activists said.
Destroyed: A huge cloud of smoke rises over the Syrian city of Kobane following the U.S. led airstrikes
Turkish Kurds watch smoke rises over Syrian town of Kobane after the airstrike on Friday
The US-led coalition began a bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria in late September after striking at the extremists in neighboring Iraq, where they also hold swaths of territory.
Idriss Nassan, a senior Kobane official, said the airstrikes had helped halt the advance of the militants.
But he said the Kurdish fighters defending Kobane would need more weapons and ammunition to save the town.
'Airstrikes are not enough,' said Nassan. 'It's reduced ISIS, but it's not enough to defeat them,' he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State.
Double strike: Multiple clouds of thick black smoke are seen in Kobane as U.S.-led bombing raids hit Islamic State targets
ISIS oil facilities in Syria have been aggressively targeted by coalition airstrikes, as they provide a key source of income for the militants
United: Smoke from a mortar round explodes amid fighting between Kurdish troops and Islamic State militants inside Kobane today
Mushroom cloud: Smoke was seen hanging over Kobane today as fighting continued to rage between Syrian Kurds and ISIS militants.
The US-led coalition began a bombing campaign against the IS group in Syria in late September
Turkey has demanded that the coalition widen its campaign against the Isis group by providing greater aid to Syrian rebels, who are battling both the extremist group and President Bashar Assad's forces.
Syrian government airstrikes on a rebel-held town near Damascus killed at least 16 people, activists said today, as part of intensified efforts by government forces to secure approaches to the capital.
At least five strikes targeted the town of Douma on Friday evening, according to local activist Hassan Taqulden and the Britain-based Observatory.
The bombs killed at least three children and one woman, said the Observatory.
'There are people under the rubble and we can't help them,' Taqulden said.
